Madison County Journal

County gets $4M for Bozeman 4-laning

By STAFF REPORTS

A $4 million federal grant will go toward the widening of Bozeman Road from Highway 463 to Reunion Parkway, officials announced this week.

The funding, appropriated through Housing and Urban Development (HUD), was part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 passed by Congress last month. 

District 2 Supervisor Trey Baxter said the four-laning of Bozeman Road is set to go to construction in January. 

“We’ve finished right-of-way, we’ve finished environmental, and we’ve finished design,” Baxter said. “We are waiting on eight utilities to relocate.”

Baxter said the Bozeman portion has a price tag around $24.5 million. The length of the widening is approximately 1.6 miles for a current two-lane road that handles 22,000 cars per day.

“This will definitely help improve our transportation system,” he said. 

Included in this connectivity project are Reunion Phase 2 and Reunion Phase 3. Phase 2 includes the 1.2 miles of roadway between Bozeman Road to Parkway East, including a bridge over I-55. Phase 3 connects the bridge to U.S. Highway 51.

Baxter said the original price of Phase 3 was estimated at $10 million but due to inflation has doubled to nearly $20 million. The price of Phase 2 is estimated to cost $25 million. 
 
District 3 Supervisor Gerald Steen praised U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith for initiating the $4 million funding request in the omnibus bill and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker for his support of the funding. 

“This is very good news for Madison County,” he said, adding that Hyde-Smith “shepherded” the bill throughout the process and Wicker was side-by-side with his support.

Ryan Annison, state director for Wicker, told supervisors this was a “perfect example of how we can work together” from the federal government down to local governments. 

Baxter said the federal help is appreciated.

“I know the moms in Madison County will thank you for shortening this commute for them in the morning,” Baxter told Annison. “We really appreciate what you guys do in Washington.”
  
    

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