Starkville residents excited for new upcoming look of downtown area
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – It’s been a bumpy road, but construction and renovation of Starkville’s Main Street corridor is starting to show signs of improvement.
With the project winding down, the area is starting to look more welcoming to residents and visitors.
Several renovation projects have been taking place in Starkville, and one that has created some big changes is along Main Street.
Mayor Lynn Spruill tells WCBI that the project is set to benefit pedestrians with a wider sidewalk, an improved traffic flow, and more ADA parking spots.
The Main Street Improvements project, which started in July 2025, is nearing completion.
The year-long project has had businesses and their customers navigating things differently when visiting downtown stores, but now they see the light at the end of the tunnel: a more pedestrian-friendly, upgraded Main Street.
“You look at it now, I think you can see a truly transformative project for our downtown,” Mayor Spruill said.
“It does create a little bit of heartburn, but reality is that whenever you get past all that, and you get to a finished product, I think everybody is going to be tickled to death.”
Rob Roberson, owner of the Roberson Law Firm, said his business has been going with the flow during the project and he is pleased to see improvements.
“I mean, you just walk down the street and see how much better looking it is,” Roberson said. “We are an SEC town, and you want to have a friendly face, and this helps our community have some public pride and be able to show a good face, especially to our visitors that are coming in.”
Mayor Spruill said she knows that beauty matters, and along with Mississippi State, she wants to make Main Street the place to be for students, residents, and visitors.
“The university has been dressing up its outside, exterior, its landscaping, maintenance, and streetscape, so we are not mirroring that, but we are certainly cognizant of the fact that Beauty Matters,” Spruill said. “I think this will cause people to be downtown; I expect there to be restaurants that open up downtown and have outside seating that goes along with all of this.”
The project is set to be completed as early as October this year.
New businesses are also coming in through the downtown project.
