Road work begins on Columbus Main Street
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – If your drive takes you up Main Street in Columbus, be prepared for changes, and be prepared to merge.
Work began today on the first phase of an effort to slow traffic down in the area between Sixth Street and Fourth Street, and especially at the intersection of Main and Fifth Streets.
The area is narrowing from four lanes to two.
Crews began re-striping lane markers, parking spaces, and crosswalks this morning.
The goals are to cut down on accidents, especially with people backing out of parking spaces, make pedestrian crossing at Fifth and Main safer, add parking on Main Street, and re-route big trucks towards the bypass instead of up Fifth Street.
The new markings are temporary and are to get drivers used to the traffic flow. Future additions are expected to include an extension of the curbs at Fifth and Main and possibly wider sidewalks.
“We applied for some grants that would pay for it, and we were turned down with that grants, so we decided to go ahead and do it temporarily, and once we, in the next year or two, we’ll hopefully get that grant, and then we’ll be able to permanently put it in, but it should be the exact same way when you’re going down here to Harvey’s. How you have to go straight, and you can’t, you know, it’s not a two-lane anymore, and that seems to be working fine,” said Stephen.
The current striping work should be complete by Monday.
