The Mississippi Department of Transportation unveiled a plan Tuesday for improvements to Veterans Boulevard in north McComb.
With an estimated price tag of $5.75 million, the thoroughfare will receive new traffic signals at two intersections, upgraded lights where they already exist and a median between Interstate 55 and Highway 51.
MDOT District Engineer Albert White said at a public forum that surveys of traffic patterns and accidents had indicated the need for the upgrades.
The plan calls for the installation of traffic lights in two places — the intersection of Veterans Boulevard and Apache Drive, just west of the interstate, and the intersection of Veterans and Highway 51, adjacent to IC Lake.
Although MDOT will administer the project, it will be paid for with federal transportation funds. The bid process will begin in September, with a contract to be awarded later in the fall.
White said that work would likely not begin until about March, after the winter. He estimates a start-to-finish project timeline of around two years.
In a separate project but simultaneously with the work on Veterans, Interstate 55 will be repaved between Highway 568 (Exit 8) and Highway 98 West (Exit 20). The stretch south of Presley Boulevard, which is concrete, will undergo a process called rubblization, whereby the existing roadway is pulverized, then left in place as a base for new asphalt pavement.
Between Presley and Exit 20, the interstate’s existing concrete pavement will receive repairs.
In addition to the new traffic lights, key elements of the Veterans Boulevard re-do include:
• The median, which will prevent left turns into traffic except at intersections. Traffic entering Veterans from Christine Drive will have to go to the right.
• The closure of Maxine Avenue at Veterans Boulevard. Access to the northernmost block of Maxine will only be from Stewart Street, one block south.
