MSU is set to bring changes to campus traffic through 2026
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – While the fall semester is coming to a close at MSU, the university is preparing to start the new year with some major infrastructure projects.
There will be two projects starting in mid-December that will affect traffic on and near campus.
While many students are leaving campus for the winter break, road crews are moving into Mississippi State.
Infrastructure projects designed to change the flow of traffic on campus will soon be underway.
A new traffic circle will be built at Stone Boulevard and Bost Drive.
MSU Campus Services Executive Director, Saunders Ramsey said changes to the intersection have been needed for some time.
“It caused a lot of traffic issues and congestion, but also major safety challenges,” Ramsey said. “We have a mid-block crossing here for pedestrians that is very dangerous, and we’ve signed it the best we can. But, the new traffic circle will provide a safer crossing for pedestrians as they try to navigate across Stone Boulevard.”
Construction will begin on December 17th, leaving the main entrance to campus temporarily closed, at Stone Boulevard from the Highway 12 Bypass to B.S. Hood Road.
The university usually does construction on campus during winter break, but this project is expected to finish in late summer of next year.
“We waited until after football season, we wanted to get as much work as we could, get done in the offseason when students are gone home,” Ramsey said. “We will do a lot of utility locations and a lot of disruptive things, and then the spring will be a challenge because school will be back in, but we hope to get it done, as I said before, next fall when the really large weekends and lots of visitors are in town.”
Ramsey said there will be alternate routes and detours to follow during the time.
The goal of the project is to make travel safer for drivers and pedestrians.
“Safety is important to us, and anytime we do a safety project, there is also an opportunity to make things more beautiful, and the traffic circle includes some landscaping and a new flag pole welcoming everybody to campus, so it is also going to be very attractive,” Ramsey said.
Hardy Street will also be under construction as a new plaza is planned to be built by May 2026.
