VIDEO: Road Changes Are On The Way To Two Busy Interchanges In Columbus

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- If you drive in Columbus you probably know that the 18th Avenue and Military Road Exits on Highway 82 are famous for traffic tie-ups.

“I live in between the two of them so I’m driving on them all the time,” said Lori LeVar Pierce, long-time Columbus resident.

Pierce admits, driving along interchanges Highway 82 and North 18th Avenue and Highway 82 and Military Road can be stressful at times.

“I have sort of figured out my way to drive them,” Pierce explained. “For instance, the 18th Avenue Exit, I never turn left on it. I will only come off and go right unless it’s absolutely no other way around turning left. I will get off at a different exit because it’s usually congested.”

“If I’m driving those routes every day I would say they need to be changed immediately,” said Melinda McGrath, MDOT Executive Director.

Thankfully for drivers, changes are on the way to the busy intersections.

On Thursday, the Mississippi Department of Transportation held a public hearing to show drivers the proposed changes.

At the intersection of Highway 82 and North 18th Avenue a dual off ramp will be added, making the roadways wider.

“The outermost right lane, you would get in that lane and then you could go all the way down to where all of your doctors offices and hospitals are,” said McGrath. “If you want to continue on to 45 then you would want to get in the innermost right lane, and then that will take you right on out to U.S. 45.”

Two roundabouts will be added at the on and off points at the intersection of Highway 82 and Military Road.

“The military Road Exit off of 82, cars often stop instead of continuing to move and I think the roundabout will encourage more traffic flow rather than getting people stopped up at that exit,” said Pierce.

Pierce said she’s excited about the changes and believe they’ll help improve the traffic flow in both areas.

“Well there will be some adjustments because roundabouts are new for a lot of people to drive on,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of them in Mississippi, but they do work well and I think once everybody gets used to them they will be fine and we will appreciate having them.”

MDOT is hoping for construction to begin on both projects within the next year.