Spring brings with it the growth of new grass, blossoming flowers and leaves budding on trees. It also brings better weather, which is good for the City of Meridian as it kicks off 2025 with a hefty to-do list totaling some $36 million.

 

At the top of the list is North Hills Street and a $3.5 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

 

Assistant Public Works Director Mike Van Zandt said the city received a $3.4 million appropriation from the state in 2023 to repave North Hills, which was completed in December 2023, with some of that money left over. Those additional funds lead into the RAISE Grant, which is paying for a study, surveying and design of a project to improve the city’s heavily used North Hills Street corridor.

 

“The purpose of it is to do a planning study to determine how to improve the level of service on North Hills and improve safety,” he said. “North Hills is one of our heavier travelled streets that the City of Meridian maintains.”

 

Underway now are efforts to study traffic flow, identify hazardous areas or places that need to be addressed, environmental studies and more, he said. Not too far off will be stakeholder meetings, where business owners and residents along North Hills will be asked for their input as well.

 

“We’re in Phase A, we call it. Phase B will involve actual right-of-way acquisition. It will involve actually putting a pencil to paper and having a design done as to what we want to do,” he said. “And then the third phase will be getting the last part of the grant, which will actually pay for all the construction cost.”

 

The city has until fall 2026 to complete its plan and have construction documents ready to go under the deadline set by the USDOT.

 

Eight Street Improvements

 

A project to address problem intersections along Eighth Street is also ongoing, thanks to a grant from The Mississippi Department of Transportation. The City of Meridian is receiving $3 million for the project, for which it must provide a $750,000 match Van Zandt said.

 

“The intent of it is to improve intersections, signalized intersections,” he said. “Right now, all of these intersections have really poor geometry. Tight corners or, like 26th Avenue, it’s off set.”

 

Driving down Eighth Street, residents can see the literal impact of the intersection designs as many traffic light poles bear signs of being struck at least once by turning vehicles, Van Zandt said. The way the intersections are designed, there is no way for large vehicles to turn without cutting off other drivers or damaging infrastructure.

 

In total, he said, there are six or seven intersections that will be addressed in the project, depending on how far the funding will go.

 

“This is necessary for us to do this. It’ll improve that right-of-way for everyone,” he said.

 

Public Works Director David Hodge said Eighth Street sees similar traffic to North Hills, and addressing it will also be a big improvement for the city.

 

Medical District Improvements

 

Another ongoing project in the medical district looks to improve infrastructure for people with disabilities in and around the city hospitals. Van Zandt said the city applied for a Transportation Alternatives Program, or TAP grant, through MDOT to help fund the work.

 

While the initial plan included all of the medical district, the project was split in two upon the advice of MDOT staff. This first project, he said, will include 18th and 19th avenues from 11th to 14th streets.

 

“This is going to help us build mid-block crosswalks that will facilitate people coming and going from the parking areas to the hospitals and be safe at the same time,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a big benefit.”

 

Safe Streets For All

 

Safe Streets For All is another grant the city has secured through the Federal Highway Administration to identify and solve dangerous roadways around the city. The city has secured a $200,000 grant and must match $40,000.

 

Using historical data, the city can identify hot spots around the city where crashes and other incidents are more likely to occur, Van Zandt said. Then, work can begin to identify the problem.

 

“We maintain, or rather the state maintains, crash history, and right now we’ve collected six years of crash history to look at,” he said. “When you map it, you can begin to see what areas are really problematic.”

 

While Safe Streets For All covers planning, Hodge said the city can look at additional funding opportunities and grants to address some of the findings if need be.

 

Alley Project

 

Although the project is being led by Meridian Main Street, Public Works is involved in an alley beautification project aimed at turning one of downtown’s less attractive side passages into a pedestrian walkway and events space. The City Council in July allocated $800,000 for the city’s portion of the work, which involves upgrading and relocating underground utilities in the area.

 

“Our funds will be spent to upgrade below street-level utilities, and there’s a lot of them out there,” Van Zandt said.

 

The city will need to install storm drainage, swap water and sewer lines for larger lines with higher capacity, and work to relocate other utilities in the area, he said. Once that is done, the project can be turned over to Main Street for its portion of the work, which will involve beautification of the alley itself. Meridian Main Street has its own funding, approximately $450,000, to cover the expense.

 

“Right now, we’re in the design phase. We’re very, very close to putting that out for bid,” he said.

 

Grand Avenue Bridge

 

The City of Meridian was awarded a $2.6 million Emergency Road and Bridge Repair grant through the state in August 2023 to replace a bridge on Grand Avenue. Hodge said the bridge is load rated, meaning there’s a weight restriction on vehicles that can cross over it.

 

“It’s the next bridge on our list to replace,” he said.

 

Van Zandt said the plans for the project are currently waiting for MDOT’s approval, and once that happens the project can be put out for bid. ERBR funds do not require matching funds from the city.

 

Slope Stabilization

 

Work is also ongoing on a slope stabilization project along Magnolia Creek near 14th Street and Front Street Extension. Van Zandt said the National Resource Conservation Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has grant funds available to help mitigate slope erosion issues due to heavy rain. Although the requirements are strict, the city did have a qualifying event and was able to get some funding.

 

The $260,000 will allow the city to stabilize a sewer line crossing the creek near 14th Street as well as repair the damaged slopes. Grass will be planted on one side while the other will have Gabion baskets installed, he said. The metal baskets are carefully filled with rock, providing similar strengths to concrete while allowing water to flow into the creek.

 

“It’s excellent for erosion control,” he said.

 

Highway 39 Lighting

 

Street lights along Highway 39 from 32nd Street to the Coca-Cola Plant were removed more than a year ago for a safety improvements project done by MDOT. Since then, residents have been asking to get the lights back, and the city is working to make that happen, Van Zandt said.

 

Some time ago, MDOT turned the lighting over to the city to manage, but that didn’t have a big impact as the lights were already there. Now that has changed, he said.

 

“Now it’s our responsibility to put it back if we want it,” he said.

 

The city has reached an agreement with Mississippi Power about the lighting, and materials are on order, Van Zandt said. With about half the needed materials on hand, it shouldn’t be too much longer before residents see work begin. The cost to the city is $176,000 up front with costs for electricity at the rate set by the Public Service Commission.

 

“I would say probably within a couple months we ought to start seeing some activity, and maybe by the end of the summer it’ll be complete,” he said.

 

In total, the value of the ongoing projects tops out at $36 million, Van Zandt said, but because of the grants and outside funding, the cost to the city is just $13 million. Over the past four years, the city has started and completed more than $10 million in work, he said, with a cost to the city of $2.4 million.

 

“So that’s a lot. $46 million worth of projects that we have either complete or begun. A lot of infrastructure improvements,” he said.

 

Those figures do not include paving, which comes out to about 65 miles of road over the past four years, Van Zandt said, with funding coming from a variety of state, federal and local sources.

 

Hodge said the mission of Public Works is to support growth and development throughout the city by providing the infrastructure the city needs to succeed. Finding grants, lobbying state and federal representatives and taking advantage of other funding opportunities when they become available is a big part of that, he said.

 

“We want to support growth and development by providing exceptional infrastructure services for our people,” he said. “The only way to do that is really to find money.”