The Lauderdale County Road Department is moving forward with plans to resurface several roads throughout the county as both in-house and contracted projects proceed.

In a work session Thursday, Road Manager Rush Mayatt told the board of supervisors that county crews had finished pre-leveling work needed to allow contractors to come in and micro-seal several county roads.

Micro-seal treatment is planned for Valley Road, Old Highway 19 SE, Butts Road and Point Wanita Road. The cost for the treatment, which could start as early as next week, was estimated at $1,043,725.08.

Mayatt asked the board to consider approving a plan to overlay Collinsville Road, Okatibbee Dam Road, Old Homestead Road, Sam Lackey Road and Shuck Road. Collinsville, Okatibbee Dam and Old Homestead roads, he said, are on the state aid road system and are eligible to be fixed using the county’s allotment of internet use tax funds.

The board has approved numerous roads and bridges for work throughout their term in office, Mayatt said, and it’s time to start working on some of the roads on the list.

“Our plan now is to start tackling some of this list that’s been approved and scheduled to be overlaid,” he said.

The county paving crew’s first stop will be Lizelia Road, Mayatt said. Lizelia had previously been approved for a fresh coat of asphalt, but the work was delayed due to work on the recently reopened bridge.

Lizelia is also on the list to receive striping, reflectors and new signage as part of a safety program through Mississippi Department of Transportation, but the work is being pushed back to allow the county to pave first.

“I imagine that will take all of next week,” he said.

Once finished with Lizelia, Mayatt said he plans to move road crews to Richard Johnson Road, then Ball Diamond Road, Center Hill Road and Oak Ridge Place.

“I feel like that will probably take us through the end of the year,” he said. “Those are all roads that have been approved and scheduled.”

While the county is busy paving, APAC, which is both a paving contractor and asphalt manufacturing plant in Meridian, has finished 20th Street extension and will be moving to Northeast Industrial Park Road, Mayatt said.

“I imagine they’ll probably knock it out,” he said.

Another list of roads scheduled for a scrub seal resurfacing is being prepared to go out for bid after the first of the year, Mayatt said. If everything goes smoothly, that work would likely begin next spring.

Lauderdale County had two bridges closed recently after deficiencies were discovered during inspection. Mayatt said a bridge on Center Grove Road and one on Murphy Road, both of which are old timber bridges, will need work before they can be reopened to the public.

The bridge on Murphy Road, which will have to be fully replaced, also presents a logistical challenge as Waste Management’s Pine Ridge Landfill is on that road, Mayatt said.

“Murphy Road, as most of us know, is the road the landfill is on,” he said.

Normally, garbage trucks head South on Murphy Road from Highway 80 to go to the landfill, avoiding residential areas South of the landfill, Mayatt said. Unfortunately, he said, the closed bridge will make that route impassable and force trucks to take Highway 19 and go North on Murphy to reach the landfill.

“It’s definitely going to be an inconvenience, not only to them but to the residents that live on the South side of Waste Management,” he said.

Between the design phase, approval from the Mississippi Office of State Aid Road Construction, bidding and the actual bridge work, Mayatt said the road will likely be closed for at least a year before a new bridge can be built.

The board of supervisors are expected to vote Monday to award a separate bridge project on Byrd-Doerner Road. The county is using Local System Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program (LSBP) funds to cover the cost of the repairs.