NEWTON, MS — Commissioner Dick Hall, Chair, Mississippi Transportation Commission, announces updates to several Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) projects in Central Mississippi.



A project to overlay approximately 10 miles of I-55 (including both northbound and southbound frontage roads) from the Copiah County Line to Byram is underway. Work includes pressure grouting, joint repair and guardrail installation. The contractor is W.E. Blain & Sons, Inc., with a contract amount of $15.4 million. All pressure grouting has been completed and portions of the west frontage road have been paved. Remaining work is on track to be complete by fall 2020.

I-20 interchange improvements at Norrell Road remain underway. The project will provide new geometry for the interchange while realigning and widening the frontage and local roads. All major bridge construction is complete. The bridge on the east side of I-20 has been widened to the north and south sides. Crews are paving the west side of the new frontage road bridge and dirt work on the south ramps, new loop and interstate widening has begun. Joe McGee Construction Company is the contractor for the project with an amount of $26.87 million.

Crews are making headway on the I-55 north bridge widening over the I-220 ramp. The project will increase capacity on I-55 northbound by providing an additional northbound lane from the I-55 northbound to I-220 southbound exit ramp to the I-55 northbound to the Natchez Trace exit ramp. It will also widen the existing bridge on I-55 over the I-220 northbound to I-55 northbound ramp to provide for the additional lane. The ramps at the I-55 northbound to I-220 southbound and I-55 northbound to the Natchez Trace interchanges will be modified to incorporate this additional lane.

The project will also provide for the milling and overlay of the I-55 northbound lanes from County Line Road to the Natchez Trace, the west frontage road between Old Agency Road and Steed Road, the roundabout at Old Agency, the northeast loop from I-55 to Old Agency, the northwest loop from Old Agency to I-55 and the southwest ramp from Old Agency to I-55. Key Constructors, LLC was awarded the project with a contract amount of is $12.4 million. The project remains on track to be completed by spring 2020.

In Rankin County, the major infrastructure improvement project to reconstruct and widen approximately 7.5 miles of Hwy 49 remains underway. The contractor has switched traffic to the completed Phase I work in the median. Phase II is underway and once complete, all the traffic will be pushed to the outside for Phase III. The existing concrete pavement and median will be removed in Phase III.

In Phase IV, all paving and striping will be completed. The project will provide three total travel lanes and a shoulder in each direction of Hwy 49 once complete. The contractor is W.G. Yates & Son Construction Company with a contract amount of nearly $152 million.



A project to mill and overlay approximately six miles of I-20/I-59 through Meridian remains underway. The project calls for repairs to be made at several failed areas, updates to signal hardware and guardrail replacement on the mainline interstate route from the 65th Avenue bridge to Hwy 45. Most work has been completed. Remaining operations includes bridge end wall repairs, removal of the existing bridge armor and placement of preformed joint sealant. APAC Mississippi was awarded the project for a total bid amount of $13 million. Remaining work is expected to be complete by early summer 2020.