A project to make one of Ridgeland, Mississippi’s busiest streets safer is moving forward after the city secured a $15.6 million federal grant.
The Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant, administered by the Federal Highway Administration, will help improve historic West Jackson Street in an effort to reduce crashes and improve bicycle and pedestrian safety.
West Jackson Street serves as the primary east–west connection between Interstate 55 and U.S. Highway 51, carrying more than 17,000 vehicles daily while also supporting pedestrian activity, nearby schools, medical offices, churches, and local businesses. The corridor has experienced a high frequency of crashes and lacks adequate infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, city officials said.
Planned improvements include a road diet to reduce conflict points, wider buffered sidewalks, dedicated bicycle lanes, enhanced pedestrian crossings, traffic-calming features, improved lighting, and upgraded signalization at key intersections.
The goal is to complete the project by spring 2028, although initial temporary improvements could appear as early as this summer, according to city officials. The city is expected to implement a demonstration project in summer 2026 to further illustrate and test the proposed improvements.
Next steps include working to complete the grant agreement, which could take several months. Once complete, the city will seek an engineer for the project.
The project fits in with the city’s long-term goal to make Jackson Street and the area of town known as the Railroad District a cohesive downtown.
City officials began commissioning a master plan in October 2021, and the plan was presented to the city in early 2023. The plan’s development included input from local businesses.
Photo by Ktkvtsh, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
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