Traffic study could change Meridian highways
By By William F. West / community editor
Nov. 21, 2002
The Mississippi Department of Transportation plans to hire a consultant to study traffic problems on all major Meridian highways but chiefly along Interstate 20/59 and Highway 19 North.
Dick Hall, Central District transportation commissioner, said options could include adding extra lanes to I-20/59, relocating the interstate to the south and building a Highway 19 North bypass.
MDOT records show the average daily traffic count on I-20/59 in Meridian is more than 40,000 vehicles, while the average count on Highway 19 North is about 19,000 vehicles.
Past statistics were not immediately available.
Tommy Dulaney, chairman of the East Mississippi Business Development Corp., said traffic has increased because of Bonita Lakes Mall and the city's three regional hospitals.
Ken Wallace, an MDOT district construction engineer, declined to name the firm that will do the traffic study. He said the firm was chosen based on its qualifications.
Wallace said plans call for having the firm on board within a month to begin the traffic study. He said the study could take about a year.
Dulaney said there's been much interest in building a Highway 19 North that would extend across the north side of Meridian and possibly link with Highway 39 and U.S. 45.
MDOT's current statewide highway improvement program, Vision 21, calls for four-laning Highway 19 from Philadelphia to Meridian and also improving Interstate 20/59 through Meridian.
Highway 19 is two lanes from Philadelphia to Collinsville and four lanes south to the city.
Hall said he's concerned about the condition of I-20/59 through Meridian.
The highway originally opened in December 1950 as a re-routed, four-lane U.S. 11/80. It was named Tom Bailey Drive, in honor of the late governor from Meridian.
Tom Bailey Drive helped ease downtown traffic flow. It was later converted to I-20/59.
Today, I-20/59 in Meridian has two lanes each heading east and west. The interstate has five exits in about a four-mile stretch; a low-rise concrete wall separates east and west lanes.
