D.I. Smith - Alderman-at-Large - Ridgeland: February 2010

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

REUNION INTERCHANGE KILLED; Madison County 2010 Road Plan

The Madison County effort to be the first county in the State of Mississippi, and one of the few in the U.S., to build an interstate highway interchange has been canceled and the $21 million of bond money redirected to other projects. See link to the Amend Madison County Road Plan below.

Even though blame is placed squarely on MDOT by some, Madison County only had a small fraction of the money necessary to build the interchange and it had to be obligated and spent by March 2011. Or, the bonds would lose their tax exempt status.

Much of the remaining bond money, approximately $21 million, is going to projects of questionable priority with low payoff for movement of traffic in Madison County.

Engineering contracts worth over $4M for design and construction oversight of road projects were awarded to Warnock & Associates yesterday without review of the contracts and without considering obtaining quotes (qualifications) from other engineering firms.

See related news and back ground articles below..

Tim Johnson's Press Release, Feb 1, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/yj9ovcp

Click here to see the Madison County Road Plan Amended, Feb 1, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/yku9uuy
2010 Road Affidavit -- District 3 Supervisor, D.I. Smith