The city of Jackson is working with the contractor who won the bid to rework Riverside Drive to determine how soon the project can begin while it awaits materials held up by supply chain issues.
Charles Williams, city engineer for the city of Jackson, said he hopes Hemphill Construction Co., which has the contract to rehab Riverside Drive from Peachtree Street to Interstate 55, can start work in mid to late March.
The project to improve Riverside Drive will be a multi-step process and exactly where it will start is still to be determined, he said. “We’re discussing which side of the road we want to shut down first,” he said.
The project includes replacing the 36-inch water line on the north side of Riverside Drive and the 18-inch line on the south side of Riverside Drive, he said.
The 36-inch line originates at the water treatment plant at the water works curve, extends to Peachtree Street where it turns and extends to Woodrow Wilson Drive. The 18-inch line originates at the water treatment plant and extends to the water tower on Riverside Drive.
Peter Perry, a member of the One Percent Sales Tax Commission that is footing the $12-million bill for the project, said the project is extensive. “They’re going to dig up the street, haul in new dirt, replace the major water lines, repair the sewer, fix the storm drainage and repave it,” he said.
The live oaks that line the median of Riverside Drive are not to blame for the needed repairs, Perry said. Leaking water lines and Yazoo clay are the culprits, he said.
The only live oaks that will be removed are those that are dead, Williams said. “The majority of trees will be saved and measures will be put in place to protect them,” he said.
The trees date to 1954 when they were planted by the Hedermans, a long-time Jackson family.
Dr. Roger Parrott, president of Belhaven University, said it is good that work on Riverside Drive will be underway this spring.
“We’re especially thankful for those who worked so hard to find a design that would save the trees, and the unique distinctive nature of this important street,” he said.
A corridor relied upon by neighborhood residents, students at Belhaven University, Millsaps College, Bailey APAC Middle School, Wells APAC Elementary School and Murrah High School as well as other drivers, Riverside Drive is used by about 4,300 travelers daily.
That’s according to the 2019 average annual daily traffic count from the Mississippi Department of Transportation. The traffic count relies on 48 hours of data and is adjusted using factors such as day of the week and the season of the year.
Riverside Drive has needed repairs for 20 years, but they have been delayed because of the expense of the project, said Jackson City Council President Virgi Lindsay, who represents Ward 7.
The One Percent Sales Tax Commission approved the reconstruction project in 2015 but the project went nowhere because of lack of funding.
There were concerns that the plans first drawn had unnecessary bells and whistles such as the complete redesign of the road and pedestrian features such as a walking trail on one side and a multi-use path on the other.
In 2020, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said the $12.5 million first phase of the project drawn up previously by engineers would probably not be the project that is put into place. “It’s going to have to be scaled back to what’s appropriate and what works,” he said.
Perry said the last time Riverside Drive was reworked was 25 years ago.
The One Percent Sales Tax Commission oversees revenue collected by the 1 percent sales tax to fund capital projects, reconstruction/resurfacing projects, water/sewer and drainage projects.
