The city has wrapped up its summer paving projects this week with crews putting down a new ribbon of asphalt on Barnes Avenue behind W.A. Higgins Middle School.
Those who did not get their street resurfaced this summer will now have to wait for a second round of paving next year.
The city contracted with Coahoma County and used their equipment and road paving crew to pave and patch a number of streets over the past month. City public works employees also helped with the task.
Each commissioner was asked to submit a prioritized list of streets, intersections and areas in their wards to City Hall that they wanted paved.
The city and county entered an interlocal agreement this spring that set prices for county equipment and labor to do this kind of work. The agreement also allows the city to go outside the city limits with its equipment and men to do work in the county.
But this summer’s work was not without controversy.
Ward 4 Commissioner Ed Seals asked Public Works Director Paul Jones why more road were not paved in his district.
“I promised residents that Newson Cove, Bond Street, Sixth Street, Andrew Street, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana would be paved,” said Seals. “Very few streets in Ward 4 were paved.”
Jones said he was working off the list given to him by City Hall. He turned that list over the county for paving.
A half-dozen streets around W.A. Higgins were paved shortly after city elections two in the spring of 2021. That work also saw county crews come in and quickly pave Richie Street and other streets in that neighborhood. A corner of a private parking lot was also paved at that time.
The Board of Major and Commissioners never publically made the list of streets it planned to patch and pave this summer. The city also never gave a dollar amount planned for the work.
Other commissioners seemed pleased with the summer project and Mayor Chuck Espy said they will now begin putting together a list of streets to be paved next summer out of the 2023 budget.
Clarksdale voters passed a $5 million bond issue in 2019 and the city hosted a ceremony at the City Auditorium in May of last year to “cash” a $5 million check.
Mayor Chuck Espy alleged Clarksdale was the first city in the state to put together an infrastructure package like this. Coahoma County put together a similar internet sales tax bond and is using a $7.5 million bond last fall to build, resurface and stripe roads, improve water service, purchase equipment and replace bridges, too.
Clarksdale finalized the last details of their bond issue in March for infrastructure projects that could bring streets, sidewalks, bridges and new city equipment to the city.
The exact projects that were to be funded by that check were not made public. Commissioners talked for months about being ready to bid street projects during the summer construction season. Asphalt has to be laid during hot weather to set properly and not “pull up.”
Espy pointed out an unprecedented amount of state and federal dollars have come to the city and the money is being spent wisely.
Those federal stimulus dollars have also begun to trickle down to the county and other communities around Clarksdale. Jonestown, Lula, Coahoma, Tunica and Tunica County all had public hearing advertisements in March’s Clarksdale Press Register explaining the amount and type projects they are seeking.
Clarksdale voters said ‘yes’ to a $5 million bond issue in August 2019 that city leaders promised would rebuild a bridge, mitigate flooding problems, install lighting and repair streets.
The final tally saw 1,320 city residents vote for the bond issue and 675 votes against it for a 66/34 percent margin.
The city prioritized five projects totaling $8.25 million. However, after allowing for $3 million in funding from the Mississippi Department of Transportation and a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant, the city’s share would be $4.91 million.
The referendum has been tagged “Building for the Future” with city leaders pointing out this is an investment that will reap immediate rewards.
Building for the Future project include:
1. Replace Second Street Bridge: $3,800,000.
2. Sasse Street drainage: $800,000.
3. Pearson Street levee/pump: $2,025,000
4. Sidewalks/Lighting: $1.1 million.
5. Street rehabilitation: $500,000.
6. Friars Point Road: $3,600,000.
Projects are listed by priority and Friars Point would be added if fund become available through possible grants.
The city has built two sidewalks, constructed the Pearson Street levee and begun preliminary work on Sasse Street drainage concerns. They have also bumped the Friars Point Road project up the list, but work has not started on that project.
