Arthur Lee Collins, who uses an electric wheelchair, has lived in Oakland Heights in Meridian for more than a dozen years, riding his scooter almost daily to the nearest convenience store, Randy’s One Stop on 65th Avenue.

“This is my car,” Collins said.

Despite living less than a quarter mile from the store, the trip doesn’t come without risks. The narrow, winding dirt path along Old Highway 80 West isn’t meant to accommodate more than one pedestrian, much less a wheelchair.

To make the five-minute trip, Collins must use the roadway, sharing the highway with large delivery trucks, vans and cars alike.

“It is very dangerous,” fellow Oakland Heights resident James Barron said. “It’s a risk and someone could get injured.”

Barron said that even for able-bodied pedestrians who would walk on the dusty path, snakes lurk in the high grass, making the roadway more appealing. 

Public Forum

The City of Meridian will hold a public forum about the project from 5-7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11 at Oakland Heights Elementary School Auditorium, at 601 59th Ave.

“I think a sidewalk would do this community good,” Barron said. 

According to Hugh Smith, the director of the City of Meridian’s Public Works Department, a sidewalk is coming. 

“If you’ve ever driven that way, you’ll see the beaten path from people walking to those businesses,” Smith said. “There is an evident need for a sidewalk.”

The sidewalk would primarily be funded by a grant from the Mississippi Department of Transportation, with the remaining 20 percent paid for by the city. 

The sidewalk will stretch from Western Gardens, an affordable housing development, past Oakland Heights and Oakland Heights Elementary School and onto Highway 19, covering three miles. With many people squeezed into those three miles, between manufacturing warehouses such as Structural Steel, Clearspan Components, Slay Steel and Saunders Manufacturing, safety becomes a priority.

“That’s the purpose of a sidewalk,” Smith said. “To give pedestrians a safe way to travel.”

With a lean budget predicted for the upcoming fiscal year, however, Smith said the project has to stay within, or under, budget. 

“I’m interested to see if the project stays in or under budget because of the lack of ability to pull funds from another project,” Smith said. 

For the residents along Old Highway 80, the sidewalk couldn’t come soon enough.

“They’re very excited,” Barron said. “Everybody is talking about it because it’s been many, many years since we had anything like that.”

Collins, on the other hand, doesn’t feel optimistic about the project 

“I don’t have any faith that they’re going to do anything,” Collins said. “All the time they make promises and never follow through.”