It’s been a couple years in the making, but a project will soon be underway to build a sidewalk along J Ed Turner Drive that would give pedestrians an additional safe pathway to the Longleaf Trace.
Forrest County District 5 Supervisor Chris Bowen said the project will run east from the intersection of J Ed Turner and Fairway Place to the intersection of J Ed Turner and Classic Drive, before turning south along a 900-foot right-of-way to the Longleaf Trace.
“That way individuals from out in the Country Club area won’t have to fight the traffic,” he said. “Once Jackson Road was upgraded, there’s been a lot more traffic coming through from Highway 98 along Jackson Road, to J Ed Turner and to Classic Drive.
“It’s become a cut-through, so any time we can get (pedestrians) off of the road and not competing with the traffic out there, that’ll provide a lot more security for pedestrians.”
Officials expect the project to go out to bid some time in the spring, although an exact date has not been set.
“Part of (the delay) was because it took two years to find a willing seller to get access to the Rails-to-Trails (Longleaf Trace), Bowen said. “Once that 900 feet was secured by the city, that gave us the ability for the engineers to move to the next step. So we’re getting very close to letting it out to bid.”
The work along J Ed Turner will complement a current project in which sidewalks are being installed along South 34th Avenue to link with other recently-constructed sidewalks in the midtown area.
“The walkability of the community, and keeping pedestrians safe where traffic is, has become paramount in this day and age,” Bowen said.
Supervisors also are looking forward to another project with the Mississippi Department of Transportation that would provide walkways from the area of Stuckey’s to the Longleaf Trace.
“You’ll be able to go all the way to the Rails-to-Trails without having to compete with traffic, except for two crosswalks,” Bowen said.
