Local and state officials filled their golden shovels with Mississippi red clay and performed the infamous ceremonial toss to signal the beginning of a long-awaited gateway to the City of Laurel project. The ceremony took place Wednesday morning, September 30, at the corner of Central Avenue and Leontyne Price Blvd. (formerly Beacon Street), where a double-lane roundabout will be constructed as part of the project.
“This project has been a dream of many people here and in the City of Laurel for a long, long time. We’re really, really glad to see it get kicked off,” stated Truitt Taylor, president of Laurel Main Street, who welcomed everyone to the groundbreaking on behalf of the City of Laurel and MDOT (Mississippi Department of Transportation).
Taylor recognized several elected officials and distinguished guests attending the ceremony, including District 89 Representative Donnie Scoggins, District 88 Representative Robin Robinson, MDOT Southern District Commissioner Tom King, Laurel Mayor Johnny Magee, Ward 3 City Councilman Tony Thaxton, Ward 1 City Councilman, Pastor Jason Capers, Ward 6 City Councilwoman Grace Amos, Win Ellington from the office of U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, and former Laurel Mayor Susan Vincent.
Mandy Hegwood, with Neel-Schaffer, Inc., the City of Laurel engineering firm, gave the history of the Beacon Street Corridor project. She said the project is referred to as the Beacon Street Corridor because the money for the project was allocated before the city renamed the street the Leontyne Price Blvd.
Hegwood said the project was borne when, “In 2003, Congressman Gene Taylor, along with Senator Thad Cochran and Senator Trent Lott, included $265,000 in the annual transportation bill for interstate maintenance funds for an I-59 connector project. In 2005, the city of Laurel received an allocation of $4,000,000 in the SAFETEA-LU transportation bill for an I-59 - Highway 84 - State Highway 15 project. These funds required a twenty percent local match. If you do that math, that is $1,000,000 in local money.
Fast forward to 2012. The earmark was still sitting in federal allocation because the city had never appropriated the local money match and that allocation needed to be spent. The project scope needed a little clarification, and downtown Laurel needed a gateway. It was at this time that Laurel Main Street was beginning to turn the tide for downtown Laurel. The idea to identify Beacon Street as a connector from I-59, Highway 84, and State Highway 15 into downtown Laurel was borne with Laurel Main Street. This project could not have been accomplished though, without the support of U.S. Senator Thad Cochran, Senator Roger Wicker, and Representative Steven Palazzo supporting the use of the SAFETEA-LU allocation for the Beacon Street Corridor project. These funds still required a twenty percent local match. That was not budgeted locally until 2012, when the Laurel City Council, under the leadership of Johnny Magee and President Councilmen Tony Thaxton, dedicated up to $1,000,000 of a general obligation bond to fund that twenty percent match.
Survey and design work began in 2014, followed by four long, long years of right-of-way appraisals and acquisitions.
The double-lane roundabout design.
An additional year was dedicated to utility relocation. This project was a partnership of so many entities. To Mississippi Power and AT&T, thank you for your dedication and cooperation in seeing this project to this point.
The project includes the construction of a median to improve the safety of turning movements along Beacon Street. New landscaping, lighting, and moving overhead utilities, which you’ve probably already noticed on the street. Brick accented sidewalks, and pedestrian improvements at the intersections will provide a welcoming entry into Laurel’s beautiful downtown.
The jewel of the corridor will be a double-lane roundabout at the intersection of Leontyne Price and Central Avenue.
I cannot thank the people enough who have been involved up to this point. It’s been a long journey. And many people thought we would never reach this point, but together we did.
It will be a joy to watch the economic development that occurs along the gateway over the next few years. If you build it, they will come. That was our motto. Thank you for not giving up.”