OXFORD, MS — Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) Northern Transportation Commissioner John Caldwell, MDOT Executive Director Brad White, Senator Nicole Boyd, Representative Clay Deweese, and Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill joined other officials to break ground on the Highway 7 widening project in Oxford, Mississippi.
The project construction will expand the highway to four lanes from the SR 7/Belk Boulevard intersection to the intersection at County Road 370, just south of the SR 7/9 roundabout. In addition to widening Highway 7, increasing capacity, the project will also include features to improve safety for motorists.
“I’ve had calls from everyone from volunteer firemen to sheriff’s deputies to residents that live and drive this road. They’ve had the same complaint — it’s dangerous,” Caldwell said. “The traffic is getting to a point where something has to be done.”
“40,000 people every day come into Oxford from outside the city to work, to shop, to seek health care,” Tannehill said. “A heck of a lot of those folks are coming in on Highway 7, so I just want to say thank you for your commitment to this project. This project is literally going to save lives.”
“It will not only create a safer highway to four-laning, but it will also provide safer travel for our community, the residents of our community, and also those that drive in daily to work here in our community,” Deweese said.
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The project includes grading, drainage, bridge construction, and paving work. The $138.7 million contract was awarded to Talbot Bros. Construction of Nesbit, Mississippi. The estimated completion date is fall 2029.
