TUPELO, MS — The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) continues preservation and maintenance projects on highways and bridges in northeast Mississippi.An $81-million project is under construction to build a nearly nine-mile extension of State Route 76 in Itawamba County. Crews are currently clearing land, performing earthwork, and installing drainage. Bridge construction over Chubby Creek has also begun. The project stretches from State Route 23 to State Route 25. The contract was awarded in March to Eutaw Construction Company, Inc.. Work is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.A $4.8-million project to improve U.S. Highway 82 interchanges at 18th Avenue and Military Road continues in Columbus. At the Military Road Interchange, crews are currently constructing two new roundabouts and performing curb work. Once the roundabouts are completed, a new course of asphalt will be laid through the project area. To accommodate the roundabouts, the interchange ramps will be realigned. The westbound exit ramp will also be widened to include a new travel lane.

At the 18th Avenue Interchange, ramps were realigned and widened. Crews have completed pavement work and traffic signal work through the intersection. Permanent striping remains to be completed. The interchange project was awarded to Gregory Construction Services, Inc. and is expected to be completed this summer.

Several projects are underway in Pontotoc County. On State Route 15, a four-lane expansion was recently opened to traffic. While the highway is now open, paving is still underway in the southbound lanes, adjacent county roads, and on the center turn lane in the five-lane sections. Once paving is completed, permanent striping will be applied. The project is expected to be completed this fall.

On State Route 6, a project will install two new J-turn intersections. One J-turn will be built at the intersection of Rocky Ford Road and a second at State Route 345. At the State Route 345 site, crews have completed the paving for the new turn lanes. Work remains to construct the direction island curbs. At the Rocky Ford site, the outside turn lanes have been paved, and crews are beginning to work on the curbs of the outside islands. The $5.2-million project was awarded to Talbot Brothers and is slated to be completed this fall.

A third project on State Route 9 will improve safety at the intersection of State Route 341. The $1.1-million project includes intersection widening and new turn lanes. Crews have completed drainage work and are preparing to place asphalt throughout the project area. The SR 9 project was awarded to Cook & Son, LLC, and is slated to be completed this summer.

Elsewhere in the district, a bridge replacement project is underway in Chickasaw County. The $4.2-million project will replace bridges over Chewawah Creek and Cane Creek on State Route 389. The bridges are being built on a new alignment. At the Cane Creek, the bridge is complete through the deck. Crews are working on the approaches in both directions. At Chewawah Creek, crews are pouring the bridge deck. The contractor is Ausbern Construction Company, Inc., and the work is expected to be completed in summer 2020.A $2.4-million bridge preservation project on U.S. Highway 45 over Kansas City Southern Railroad is underway in Alcorn County. The project includes hydrodemolition and replacement of the southbound bridge deck, repairs on the northbound bridge, joint sealing, bearing and beam repairs, and coating of structural steel. Work is ongoing on the southbound side.Four bridges along Interstate 22 in Lee County are part of a $5.7-million bridge preservation and paving project. The bridge work includes joint repair, joint sealing, and repair of bridge concrete. Five miles of I-22, from State Route 178 to U.S. 45, were also repaved during the project. The project was awarded to APAC-Mississippi and is expected to be completed this fall.