Video: Highway 182 Could Receive Possible Facelift

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — Highway 182 in Starkville could soon get a facelift.

City leaders, consultants, and residents discussed their thoughts for the area during a public meeting on Wednesday.

Residents believe this revitalization is long over due.

City leaders want more businesses on Highway 182, and residents said the area should also be more pedestrian friendly.

“Its fair, but it could be better,” said John Moore, who owns property on Highway 182.

City leaders want to improve the area, that’s why they brought in residents to get more ideas on how to improve this once thriving business corridor.

“We’ll I’d like to see more restaurants, and more business in the area,” said Moore.

“I’d light to see lighting, different banners that link main street to Highway 182, a little welcome sign maybe,” said Cayla Clayton, executive manager for Chesteen Properties.

Chesteen Properties owns commercial and residential properties on the roadway, and believes a facelift would be beneficial.

“It would greatly impact or business just in the aesthetics of how everything looks, and how everything like the traffic flows into our local businesses,” said Clayton.

During the forum people talked about how incomplete sidewalks and uncut grass can drive away customers and business owners.

Many believed Highway 182 has a lot of potential to grow, but needs a spark to push it forward.

“We chesteen properties have already been trying to implement a few of those business,” said Clayton.

“It has unique assets and having the longest, most vibrant story of commercial development to tell in the city of Starkville, but that also means it has been under construction for the longest periods of time,” said Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman.

Wiseman said the city has tried to revamp the area in the past but ran into a few challenges.

“The incremental development of the highway that leaves you with varying widths of right way,” he said. “In Addition to that, you have transmission utility lights which carry high voltages, and imposed challenges, and you’ve also got the environmental issues that come from generations of development.”

Wiseman is excited about the potential revitalization.

For now, he hopes all the stakeholders can embrace the assets and the challenges that the highway brings to the city.
Wednesday’s meeting was to discuss marketing and redevelopment.

Other sessions will take place June 20th through the 23rd.

There’s been no talk of how much this revitalization effort will cost or when a final plan will be developed.