FHWA 35-09
Monday, November 23, 2009
Contact: Doug Hecox
Tel: 202-366-0660
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Awards $9.4 Million for Mississippi and Missouri Transportation Improvements
WASHINGTON – Nine highway projects in Mississippi and Missouri will receive $9.4 million from the Federal Highway Administration’s Delta Region Transportation Development Program (DRTDP), U.S Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced today.
“Investments like these will not only improve the safety of the Delta Region’s highways, they will also strengthen its economy and put people back to work,” said Secretary LaHood.
Created in 2005 as a provision of the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users,” the program provides up to $10 million each year for highway projects in the eight states comprising the Delta Region --Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.
Projects receiving DRTDP funds this year include:
Mississippi
Greenwood – $1,425,000 to help a build new connector between U.S. Highways 49/82 and State Highway 7 in the city of Greenwood, which will improve access to downtown Greenwood, local hospital and schools.
Hinds County – $1,425,000 to replace pavement on Siwell Road, which will extend the useful life of this segment of road, a key link in the 18-mile-long corridor connecting the Norrell Road Interchange on I-20 to the Byram-Clinton Multimodal Corridor on I-55.
Cleveland – $950,000 to help build a new boulevard connecting Highway 8 to Delta State University, relieving traffic in adjacent neighborhoods.
Natchez – $607,623 to help build two miles of shared-use trail for pedestrians and bicyclists along St. Catherine Street, Main Street, Martin Luther King, Jr. Street and Franklin Street. This project will also widen nearby sidewalks and install curb-ramps for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Missouri
Poplar Bluff – $2,102,386 to help build bypass around Poplar Bluff to the Industrial Park to reduce number of large freight carriers currently using streets downtown and in residential areas.
Shannon and Carter Counties – $950,000 will help build new shoulders and replace pavement on State Route 60 to extend the useful life of the westbound lane from Route M in Shannon County to Route C in Carter County. The route is heavily traveled by an estimated 10,000 vehicles daily, many of which are commercial trucks.
Pemiscot County – $950,000 to help upgrade pavement and shoulders at I-55 interchange at State Route 84. The interchange currently serves an estimated 19,000 drivers, about half of which are heavy commercial trucks.
Perry, St. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau Counties – $607,573 will help to replace pavement and improve shoulders on State Route 61 between Fruitland and Jefferson County.
Stoddard County – $342,418 for paving of several sections of Stoddard County roads which are currently gravel.
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