4-lane planned between Laurel and Bay Springs

March 17, 2009 09:35 pm

— A new four-lane highway will one day make the commute between Laurel and Bay Springs straighter, faster, and safer if everything goes as planned for the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
The approximately 20-mile Highway 15 project will roughly follow the current Highway 15’s path from Laurel until just north of the Jones/Jasper county line, but will split away from that route, carrying the new highway east of Stringer. The paths will again connect just south of the Bay Springs city limits. Two alignments are being considered for a portion east of Stringer, each one impacting property owners and houses. A five-lane portion that includes a turning lane will travel out of Laurel through Shady Grove, transitioning to a four-lane highway near the Shady Grove Volunteer Fire Department. A “bad curve” east of the Matthews community will also be straightened with the new highway.
The top speed limit for much of the highway is 65 miles per hour.
Holding public hearings in Laurel and Bay Springs Monday and Tuesday, MDOT officials were available for the hundreds of property owners and other individuals interested in projected paths or expansions.
Sedrick Durr, a Community/Public Involvement Specialist for MDOT, said the hearings signal the end of initial studies.
“This is some information we wanted to bring to the public,” Durr said during the meeting at Shady Grove Baptist Church Monday evening. The room was packed with people from Jones and Jasper counties, each trying to take a look at the map to see if their property would be impacted by Highway 15’s new route.
Durr said the study began in 2007. He said comments obtained during the two meetings will be taken into consideration as MDOT officials finalize plans. Much of the path is pretty much set, but there are a couple of portions that have alternative segments.
Jones County resident Hal Whitaker said he’s pleased about plans to widen Highway 15.
“It’s a good thing,” Whitaker said. “We’re getting a lot of traffic. If it comes on my side of the road, I live on the West side, I’ve got plenty of front yard I can give them.”
But, another property owner isn’t so lucky when it comes to having plenty of room in front of his house. The man declined when the Leader-Call asked for his name, but he did say somebody near him will lose a home.
“If they come on my side they’ll hit me. If they go on the other side they’ll get my neighbor,” the man said.
MDOT District Construction Engineer Red Stringfellow said the first phase should begin in 2012. He said that portion has already received funding as part of the Vision 21 plan through the Mississippi Legislature. The first phase is the portion that constructs a five-lane highway leading out of Laurel through Shady Grove, then a four-lane highway to the Jones/Jasper county line. The second phase includes the portion east of Stringer and into Bay Springs, but no one is quite sure when that portion of the highway will receive funding.
“There is no date,” Stringfellow said.
The exact number of property owners impacted by the new highway was not available. But, Stringfellow said the environmental study has already looked at that information.
“That’s all part of the environmental study,” he said.
Not only does the environmental study count wetlands, creeks and other water, and wildlife, but also studies the number of people, churches, businesses, and homes in the zone.
There are several homes and businesses very near the current Highway 15.

Photos

People living along Highway 15’s current or projected paths look at a huge map printed of the area between North Laurel and Bay Springs. The first phase of the Highway 15 expansion is scheduled to begin in 2012.

This map provided by the Mississippi Department of Transportation shows the projected path of the planned expansion of Highway 15 between Laurel and Bay Springs. The project is scheduled to begin in 2012.