With schools in the Lamar County School District closed for Summer Break until late July, contractors working on Old Highway 11 in Oak Grove have scheduled an increase in crews and activity on the ongoing roadwork project along that highway.
Lamar County Administrator Jody Waits said the majority of the work will be focused on installation of the final asphalt courses along the road. In the absence of school traffic, the contractor has asked to work longer days, if necessary, which could impact morning and afternoon commuters.
“One-lane closures, detours, and delays should be expected throughout each workday during this period as crews work to bring this project to completion,” Waits said. “ The impacts to traffic will vary throughout each day as the crews maneuver the project limits.
“Access to local businesses and residents will be available at all times; however, delays may be encountered depending on the exact location of work that is taking place.”
Officials are encouraging motorists to consider using alternate routes for their commutes each day, and to be alert to detours and/or flagmen who are in place for traffic control.
“The whole idea is to get it done over (the school district’s) break period, so that it’ll be complete by the time school starts,” Waits said.
Plans for the work began in early 2018, when Lamar County officials announced a project to widen a 1.2-mile section of Old Highway 11 and add a multi-use pathway along that stretch of road. The $4.3 million project, which is being overseen by Hattiesburg consulting firm Walker Associates, also entails a third lane on Old Highway 11, running from 16th Section Road to Old Highway 24.
The 10-foot-wide multi-use pathway, which accommodates pedestrian and bicycle traffic, begins on Old Highway 24 near Oak Grove Middle School before turning north on Old Highway 11 and stopping at 16thSection Road.
Over the past three months or so, workers have widened the current roadbed along Old Highway 11 and installed the cross drains, curbs and gutters, along with finishing the pathway.
“We’re excited to have it finished,” Waits said. “It’s actually ahead of schedule, and it’s turned out very, very well.
“The multi-use path, we can see that it’s already being used, and we can see that it’s going to be quite the amenity for the area. Once the paving is finished and the three lanes are striped, that will help the flow of traffic even better through that area.”
In early 2018, officials began the process of acquiring land along that strip of Old Highway 11, which contains 68 parcels of property and sees about 16,000 vehicles per day. The project then entered the utility relocation phase, after which the Lamar County Board of Supervisors put construction of the project out to bid.
In March of that year, a public hearing was held at the Oak Grove Community Center, during which residents were able to voice concerns and ask questions about the project. Although some attendees raised complaints about the multi-use pathway, saying the addition would be too costly and not necessary – given the lack of foot traffic along Old Highway 11 – Waits said the pathway would be ideal for the community.
“Although some of the concerns were that we don’t see the foot traffic and we don’t see the bicycles, quite frankly we don’t see them because there’s nowhere for them to go,” he said at the meeting. “And these are some of the amenities that we hear that people want – recreational facilities, a place to walk, a place to bike, a place that connects two schools.
“Considering all the development in this area, like several subdivisions … there’s quite a bit of people that would use this path.”
