Transportation issues were the topic of discussion during the City of Laurel’s 10th Annual Transportation Summit held Tuesday.
State and local officials gathered at the Laurel Train Depot to discuss the area’s transportation future.
Officials with the Mississippi Department of Transportation met with officials from the City of Laurel, the Jones County Board of Supervisors, Neel-Schaffer and Clark Associates to discuss a variety of issues — ranging from Interstate 59 projects to improvements being made to local bridges and to Highways 15 and 84.
Randy Meador with Neel-Schaffer said the annual gathering is designed to inform officials about transportation projects occurring and those being considered in the area.
“The life of a community flows through its modes of transportation,” Meador said. “What we are doing today is more than building roads and bridges. We are building communities.”
MDOT Southern District Transportation Commissioner Wayne Brown told the group that Laurel has numerous modes of transportation available.
“Laurel has railroad, the interstate highway and much more,” he said. “There are many needs here.”
However, Brown said the Department of Transportation is “facing some (money) problems.”
Referring to the department’s funding, Brown said, while funding for the department has remained the same over the years, the cost of materials have continued to increase.
“We are paying more and more, but the revenue is down,” he said, adding that “We have a lot to do.”
Brown, as well as other officials with MDOT, updated city and county officials on several projects being worked on in the Laurel-Jones County area.
Eric Page, who has worked on several Laurel projects, said “without MDOT’s help, we would not be able to do those projects.”
Laurel Mayor Melvin Mack said the summit was a success.
“This is a great event. It brings the state, county and city together,” Mack said. “We know that money is so tight now. ... We are just trying to get our projects done by working together with others.”
District Construction Engineer Red Stringfellow with MDOT praised officials for the summit.
“It’s a very informative meeting,” he said. “It has been a benefit for the city, county and MDOT since it began.
“We’ve discussed a lot of projects over the years including the S-Curve and Highway 84,” Stringfellow added. “We have also been able to complete a lot of projects, including the S-Curve and several more.”
Also during the meeting, Stringfellow said work is being done now by MDOT officials to determine land distribution or use around the S-Curve Project.
Jones County engineer Ronnie Clark with Clark Associates and Jones County Supervisor Andy Dial, who is president of the Jones County Board of Supervisors, updated the group on the county’s plans for the future, which will include some improvements at the fairgrounds as well as repairs to several county bridges.
Dial said the summit was “very informative and lets us know what’s going on.”
Dial said the gathering is important for all entities.
“We need to know what the state plans are, and that allows us to work together on some things,” he added. “The better informed we are, the better we are able to serve the people of Jones County.”
Laurel’s Chief Administrative Officer Dennis Keveryn said transportation is extremely important to a community, and Tuesday’s summit allows officials from the different entities to focus on it.
“We must pool our resources and our money,” Keveryn said. “We are all in this together.”
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Photo/Eloria Newell James
Officials discuss transportation future of Laurel
Summit held at Train Depot
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