Highway 15 Will Be Getting Much Needed Expansions

ECRU, Miss. (WCBI) – MDOT is giving some relief to one of our area’s most congested highways.

This relief comes in the form of lane expansions, and for Highway 15 in North Pontotoc County workers and residents, alike, who travel that highway say it’s about time.

If you’ve ever driven through North Pontotoc County in peak hours, there’s a chance you’ve been in a traffic jam on Highway 15.

“One of the most congested sections in the District,” said MDOT District 1 Engineer, Mark Holley.

Holly says the department’s latest project will be taking Highway 15 from two lanes to four.

“They will pave that section, move traffic over to it, and then re-construct portions of the existing lanes,” Holley described. “The portion through Ecru will be a five lane section, and then there will be some bridge replacement in that process.”

Already, you can see the groundwork has been laid, and bridges are ready to be paved over.

With two different furniture manufacturing plants and North Pontotoc High School, this expansion comes as a relief.

“Usually from 6:30 to around 7:30, it’s back to back,” said North Pontotoc Principal, Brian Sutton.

Sutton says he see the positive impact this expansion can have.

“We’ve had some accidents on the higway with kids slowing down or parent slowing down and other people that haven’t been through here are running into the back of them,” said Sutton. “We’re excited about the new four lanes. It’ll be good with Ashley Furniture and actually getting to Pontotoc.”

The original project was to be 15 miles, but because of the state’s current budget it’s been cut to seven.

Still, North Pontotoc can consider themselves lucky.

As Holly tells us, it could be a while before we see another project in MDOT’s District 1.

“This one was kind of one that was on-going, started, and we’re continuing it to completion at this point,” said Holley. “Without additional funding, we’re pretty much on a standstill for new capacity projects, focusing more on safety and maintenance improvements.”

The project’s completion date is set for the Summer of 2020.