Hattiesburg, Mississippi – On Monday, August 14, 2023, the City of Hattiesburg will begin multiple improvements to include traffic calming measures and to enhance walkability in and around South 16th Avenue.
“This project comes from a productive, ongoing dialogue with neighborhood residents. Neighbors were concerned about the number of motorists, many of whom are cutting through from Hardy to Broadway, who regularly speed and run stop signs,” said Mayor Toby Barker. “I appreciate the cooperation of the Kamper Avenues neighborhood, Councilman Dave Ware and Hardy Street Baptist Church for coming up with proven road design solutions that will mitigate some of these occurrences.”
As a whole, this project will directly address concerns about speeding in the Kamper Avenues neighborhood by installing successfully proven traffic calming measures including:
- The 100 block of South 16th Avenue, between Concart Street and Hardy Street, will close for thru traffic. While parking for the church and the Zoo will be allowed, only pedestrians and bicycles will be allowed to go from Concart to Hardy.
- The intersection and traffic signal at South 17th Avenue and Hardy Street will be improved with a dedicated left turn lane to route traffic out of the neighborhood
- Traffic circles will be installed at the intersections of South 12th Avenue/Concart Street and South 11th Avenue/Concart Street
- A landscaped median along the 100 block of South 14th Avenue
- Enhanced lighting along the 1500 block of Concart Street
- Installation of a traffic table (raised crosswalk) on South 15th Avenue at Concart Street
- Extension of an 8-foot sidewalk along Concart Street from South 16th Avenue to South 15th Avenue; and on South 16th Avenue from Hardy Street to Concart Street
The total cost for this project is approximately $750,000 and is budgeted through the general fund. Work is scheduled to take four months, pending weather.
Barker added, “We know there will be inconveniences experienced as travel patterns are disrupted. As with all construction projects, we ask residents to be patient as we work toward improving both walkability and concerns regarding speeding throughout the Avenues.”
##
VIDEO
