The third and final phase of what’s been called the Capitol Street Renaissance Project is underway.
The last phase of construction stretches along East Capitol Street from West Street to State Street and includes the repair of sidewalks and replacement of curbs and gutters, so they are compliant with the Americans with the Disabilities Act and also the enhancement of landscaping.
The $1.5 million final phase is a project of the Capitol Complex Improvement District (CCID), which lawmakers established in 2017 to help the city of Jackson offset costs for providing municipal services to state-owned facilities.
Construction on the third phase of the project began in February and is expected to be completed by this fall, according to the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration, which has jurisdiction over the CCID.
Downtown Jackson Partners (DJP) is obtaining quotes to plant more than 30 new trees to complete Phase III, said John Gomez, president of Downtown Jackson Partners.
The first phase of the Capitol Street Renaissance, completed in May 2015, returned Capitol Street to a two-lane, two-way street featuring traffic-calming roundabouts, rebuilt sidewalks, replaced water lines, improved drainage and installed new landscaping between Gallatin and Lamar streets, Gomez said.
“DJP and our partners named it the Capitol Street Renaissance Project when we raised money to two-way Capitol Street in 2008,” he said,
Downtown Jackson Partners and its partners raised $8.5 million in state and federal funding with the city of Jackson providing the $700,000 match for Phase I.
For Phase II, Downtown Jackson Partners and the Community Foundation for Mississippi provided $80,000 each to install conduit in the tree wells, he said.
Neel-Schaffer engineers developed the new look for Capitol Street, prepared the plans and helped oversee construction.
“The completion of the Capitol Street Renaissance is a decade-long project to return our main street to two-way and to create a better walking environment,” Gomez said. “The project has and will improve the appearance of downtown Jackson and open more development opportunities such as residential and restaurants.”
Jackson City Council President Virgi Lindsay, who is a member of the CCID Project Advisory Board, appreciates the improvements to East Capitol Street. “Any time you can enhance the walkability of an area is a huge bonus,” she said
The CCID, which takes in a large swarth of the capital city and includes most state-owned properties, has several other projects in various levels of readiness, including one on Mississippi Street.
Hemphill Construction has received the contract for the job and is expected to begin work soon on a $2.35 million project to mill and overlay and provide sidewalk and curb and gutter repairs on Mississippi Street from West Street to North Street, according to DFA. Construction is expected to be completed by early 2023.
The construction documents for a CCID project to repair the sidewalks and curbs and gutters and mill and overlay North Street from High Street to Fortification Street are complete, according to DFA.
Waggoner Engineering is completing the construction documents for a CCID project to improve State Street from Capitol Street to Fortification Street, according to DFA. That project will include sidewalk, curb and gutter repair and mill and overlay.
CCID funds are spent based on a master plan, which prioritizes projects on a number of factors that include proximity and access to state facilities, stakeholder priority, immediate impact, economic and community impact, public health and safety, condition and level of service and funding source.
DFA developed and adopted the master plan in consultation with the CCID Project Advisory Committee, which consists of representatives and appointees from the city of Jackson, Jackson State University, the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the Offices of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives.
