Eastbound travelers on Highway 82 who want to go to West Point or Tupelo will soon have an easier way to get on the road that takes them there.
Construction on a Highway 45 Alternate northbound loop should be completed by early July, Mississippi Department of Transportation Public Information Officer Jason Scott said.
The $1.56 million MDOT funded project will help solve a safety concern for motorists who currently have just one exit they can use to get on Highway 45 Alternate from Highway 82.
If they want to go north after they take the exit, they have to cross southbound traffic before turning left if they want to go north. This additional exit just past the current one due east merges drivers into northbound traffic so they can avoid crossing the southbound lanes. The new lane will also facilitate traffic flow, Scott said.
“There’s a lot of wrecks that happen there with the heavy truck traffic,” Scott said.
Over the next two to three weeks, Scott said crews will complete what is left to be paved, dressing up the slopes and planting more grass for erosion control.
The project began last September.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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