City Plans Major Street Projects

File photo

The city of Jackson is moving ahead with a Fortification Street overhaul this week and is considering building restrictions on Old Canton Road.

by Adam Lynch
June 28, 2011

Residents near Fortification Street will see construction crews breaking ground next week in preparation for a dramatic renovation.

Local gas supplier Atmos Energy is kicking off a major widening of sidewalks and other traffic-calming renovations by relocating some gas lines and replacing others, says Virgi Lindsay, Greater Belhaven Neighborhood Foundation executive director.

Atmos is contracting Miller Pipeline for the work, which precedes city contractors moving in with their own dirt turners later this year. Construction on the $15 million endeavor is expected to take more than a year, with work on water mains and power lines comprising the brunt of initial construction. The city is funding the project through a 2003 bond issue, a federal earmark and a 2003 federal highway safety bill.

Lindsay told the Jackson Free Press that the project has been long in coming. Members of the neighborhood association had its first meeting with Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. on the prospect as far back as 2001. Johnson soon came onboard with the plan, but funding for the renovation remained a problem for years.

The road alteration requires no expansion of the street onto bordering property, but sidewalks will expand into the street, reducing the road to three lanes--two opposing lanes and one turning lane. The city will also add new, decorative street lighting and bury some of the power lines.

Critics complained that the development would discourage commuter traffic into the area by slowing down travel along the road, although pedestrian-friendly local residents seem to overwhelmingly approve the renovation.

Lindsay warned that local residents might experience some temporary inconvenience of electricity and gas service loss at some point over the 18-month lifespan of the construction.

Possible New Look for County Line?

Jackson officials are considering a commercial overlay district that restricts certain businesses from opening along Jackson's municipal side of County Line Road.

The ordinance, proposed by Ward 1 Councilman Quentin Whitwell, is similar to the restrictive district requirements set by the neighboring city of Ridgeland on the north side of the county border road. The new ordinance sets standards for the appearance of new buildings and requires new construction to include sidewalks and bicycle amenities. 

The ordinance also restricts the opening of some businesses including adult bookstores, pawn shops, check cashers and short-term loaners, carwashes, and laundromats, among other businesses.

The Jackson side of County Line Road, like the Ridgeland side, already features at least one check-cashing business—Agave—which may be grandfathered in. The nature of city zoning does not ensure that a new owner of the check-cashing business will be able to use the building as another check casher.

(Whitwell's effort to restrict payday lenders' access to the area is ironic in one way: He registered in 2011 with the secretary of state's office as a lobbyist for payday lenders Cash in a Flash and Advantage Capital Partners.)

City spokesman Chris Mims said he did not know Johnson's initial reaction to the overlay proposal. The mayor has advocated for more strict building and business codes along Highway 80, in West Jackson, as part of a revitalization effort in that section of the city.

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