Itawamba County Times
Itawamba County four-lane construction begins
By Jason Collum, Red Bay News
Work has begun on the construction of the last section of Corridor V, or Miss. Hwy. 76 in Itawamba County.
A preconstruction meeting was held Wednesday, April 15, for Eutaw Construction Company, Inc., of Aberdeen, Miss., the company that was awarded an $81 million contract in March for construction of the nearly nine-mile extension of the highway.
“The contractor would like an early notice to proceed on April 16, so work may officially begin Thursday,” said Jace Ponder, spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s Northern District. “The general timeline is for the project to be completed by the end of 2023.”
The Mississippi Transportation Commission awarded the bid during its March 10 meeting. State Route 76 forms a part of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) in Mississippi. The project will complete the final portion of the ADHS Corridor V, which runs from Interstate 55 in Batesville to Interstate 24 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, connecting intermodal facilities in the three states, including the Port of Huntsville and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
Completion of the four-lane highway could have far-reaching and positive economic implications for the Red Bay area as it will create an unbroken four-lane link between Toyota facilities in Blue Springs, Miss., and the joint venture Toyota-Mazda plant now under construction near Huntsville. With a significant portion of the existing labor base already trained in automotive manufacturing thanks to the presence of Tiffin Motorhomes, the highway’s completion could make the Baymont area attractive for other automotive industry suppliers. Red Bay could be considered a near mid-way point between the two Toyota facilities, especially for suppliers looking to take advantage of tax incentives offered by Mississippi or Alabama.
“The City of Red Bay has anxiously awaited the completion of Hwy. 24, which will open the ‘gateway’ to Red Bay for economic development opportunities,” said Mayor Charlene Fancher. “Words can’t express my thanks to the Alabama and Mississippi leaders for team-working together to push this project forward on the federal level for project approval.”
State and local officials made a major effort last year to secure funding for the final leg of the project. Miss. Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith and Congressman Trent Kelly announced a $52.4 million Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant in July 2019 for the construction of a four-lane highway in Itawamba County. The effort was aided with support from Alabama officials, including Rep. Robert Aderholt.
The stretch of four-lane will roughly follow the path of Fairview-Banner Road, and will actually cross that roadway twice as it runs to Hwy. 25, where the current four-lane highway ends just south of the Fairview Community.
Ponder said freight traffic along Corridor V uses a 13-mile section of two-lane State Route 23 when traveling from Interstate 22 to Alabama. The new highway will cut four miles off the trip, but more importantly take traffic off the narrow two-lane route, making the highways safer for the traveling public.
“MDOT’s number one priority is the safe and efficient movement of goods and people,” said MDOT Executive Director Melinda McGrath, P.E. “This final phase of Corridor V will take freight traffic off two-lane highways and move it to four-lane highways specifically designed for this purpose.”