Roundabout funding now finalized

About $2.6 million in funding for the new roundabout at Highways 15 and 16 has been finalized, part of an overall $6 million construction project scheduled this spring that will help divert truck traffic away from town.

Neshoba County, the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA), and the state Department of Transportation (MDOT) recently finalized an agreement to secure the funding from the Legislature that will help get trucks to the Weyerhauser mill more efficiently.

Through the agreement, MDOT will use $2,665,404 in Economic Development Highway Funds from MDA to construct the roundabout along with the two bridges that lead to the mill.

State Sen. Jenifer Branning and Rep. Scott Bounds were instrumental in helping to secure the funding last year.

According to MDOT, the roundabout construction is scheduled to be bid in October, and construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2025.

The project involves replacing two bridges, one on Lakeside Drive beside the Church at the Arc and another on Weyerhaeuser Street east of the railroad.

MDOT estimates the total construction cost to be about $6 million.

To minimize traffic disruptions, the roundabout will be constructed in phases, according to MDOT. 

MDOT said it will detour traffic using SR 885, which currently connects the two highways in front of Tolbert Chevrolet.

MDOT said the affected roadways will be temporarily closed during the bridge construction to allow for the removal and replacement of the bridge structures.

MDOT said they will phase the bridge construction to ensure that neither bridge will be closed simultaneously.