Infrastructure and more infrastructure: Roads, bridges, airports see heavy investments as more development breaks ground

Cities and towns across the Golden Triangle have been hard at work revamping their infrastructure, from parks and bridges to flood prevention and a wide variety of major road reconfigurations. There have also been some notable businesses laying the groundwork for a move into the area.

Starkville/Oktibbeha

Roadwork is the name of the game in Oktibbeha and Starkville this year, with the Highway 182 revitalization shutting down much of the western portion of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. That project won’t be done until 2027 but should see major progress in early 2025 as workers use March’s warm weather and spring break to lay asphalt along School Street and beyond.

Main Street will get its own revamp when a redesign breaks ground in April. Bids should finalize in March, with major construction continuing for 18 to 24 months. Those looking to check in on the project can use Main Street’s new camera, which will be used to make a timelapse of the work once it’s done.

Starkville landed a $10 million hotel deal in late 2024 to build a Candlewood Suites between Academy Sports and the Hollywood Premier Cinema. The city is still waiting for the hotel to assemble and file its paperwork, but it expects construction to begin this year and finish as early as 2026.

McKee park has been partially closed for extensive renovations through 2024. Its new facilities, including new play areas, splash pads, dog park, parking and pathways should be finished by October, possibly earlier.

The county is also looking to change its roads, with two separate pilot programs testing dust suppressants and chemical stabilizers for Oktibbeha’s dirt and gravel surfaces. Those tests have been arranged and are waiting for warm enough weather in March or April, with the stabilizers along Cannon Road and the dust suppressants along Clifford Lane and two other roads branching off Rockhill. Both could see a broader rollout if the chemicals prove effective.

Oktibbeha launched a comprehensive inventory of its bridges in November after road crews discovered substantial wear and erosion on six of them. By March county workers had laid eyes on every bridge in each county, though a thorough inspection is still forthcoming. A full inventory of road conditions is also underway, reaching roughly 50% completion in March.

Columbus/Lowndes

Columbus is revamping its drainage infrastructure to try and reduce its flooding issues, mostly in Wards 1, 4 and 5. With an estimated $48 million in infrastructure investment needed throughout the city, this $6 million won’t even come close to fixing all the city’s issues, but it will hopefully alleviate some of Columbus’ worst flooding.

Recent issues acquiring easements from landowners have thrown a monkey wrench into that project, with contractors and city personnel trying to track down owners, government agencies and executors of estates for permission to work. The money, however, is coming from the American Rescue Plan Act, which means it has to be fully spent by 2026 or surrendered back to the federal government.

Columbus is also laying the groundwork for a substantial revamp of 5th Street North, the stretch of road between Magnolia Bowl and the interchange of Highways 45 and 82. The city is currently waiting for the go-ahead from MDOT, but it’s hoping to advertise bids in March or April and select a contractor in May or June, aiming to complete the work before the year is out.

That project will narrow the roads with the goal of making them safer, as well as adding bike lanes and new crosswalks for pedestrians.

The bridge on Waterworks Road is slated for repairs as well, with design complete and $600,000 set aside to reroute water lines currently running through the structure. The city aims to have the water lines relocated and bridge construction started this year, with an estimated completion date of roughly a year later.

Rural King farm and home store to move into the old K-Mart building along Highway 45 North. With $8 million in renovations starting this year and doors opening in 2025 or early 2026, it is expected to be Rural King’s first store in Mississippi and bring an estimated 60-70 jobs with $1 million in annual payroll.

Meanwhile in Lowndes the board of supervisors has put out $25 million in bonds for the Cinco Megasite, a 1,500-acre property that economic developers plan to use to lure more industry to the area and add to other industrial sites such as Paccar, Steel Dynamics and Aluminum Dynamics. As of press time, that property purchase was expected to go through in March.

The Golden Triangle Regional Airport finally has a westbound flight in the works, courtesy of American Airlines and financial assurances from all six surrounding municipal governments. Those flights will run between GTR and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, and are scheduled to start May 5.

The Columbus-Lowndes County airport finished fully resurfacing its runway in late 2024 and is now building a new storage hangar. The hangar will be finished in April, expanding the airport’s capacity for jet traffic. The new runway surface should serve for around 15-20 years. Construction on the airport’s terminal expansion is ongoing. In front of GTRA, construction on the Golden Triangle Development LINK’s new office building is proceeding.

Origis Energy in the southern reaches of Lowndes County has spent three years working on two solar farms with combined output of 350 megawatts, and both finally came online in 2024. The company’s four projects in the Golden Triangle, meant to generate power for the Tennessee Valley Authority, will bring a combined 750 megawatts of solar power and 550 megawatts of battery storage.

West Point/Clay County

West Point residents saw their grocery options expand with the opening of Fresh Value West Point in October. Situated on the former site of a Sav-A-Lot, which closed in June, the supermarket’s offerings include fresh produce and meat.

Owl’s Head Alloy, an aluminum recycling company on East Industrial Access Road in the former Blazon Tube facility, which will supply recycled aluminum to Aluminum Dynamics’ mill in Lowndes County, began hiring employees in November. It already had over 20 employees on staff in its first week of operations, with almost 70 new jobs expected over three years as it ramps up production and finishes constructing facilities. All told, the company’s complex represents an almost $30 million investment in the area.

Solar development has also had a burst of activity in Clay County, courtesy of Origis Energy’s Hope and Optimist solar developments just north of West Point. Together the two will bring 400 megawatts of power generation and 250 megawatts of storage.

Those projects aren’t as far along as their partners further south, with Optimist under construction targeting a December 2025 completion and Hope just now starting TVA public review, targeting a December 2028 completion.

Macon/Noxubee County

The new hangar group in Macon Municipal Airport is all but complete after delays due to supply chain disruptions, though Macon hasn’t found tenants for the facility’s four separate “T” hangars yet. The city plans to begin renting them out in the near future, with each space typically going toward an individual pilot.

The Old North Street Bridge replacement is nearing completion. The city aims to have that done in late spring or early summer, largely depending on how much the weather obstructions construction.

Huber Engineered Woods has broken ground in Noxubee County near Shuqualak. That project, which represents a $400 million investment from the Atlanta-based J. M. Huber Corporation will continue through 2025 and should be done in 2026. Employment estimates put that mill’s number of new jobs at roughly 160.

That construction should have a minimal impact on traffic in the area just north of the city, since workers are also adding an access road to accommodate traffic to and from the site.

The county is building a new emergency operations center, with an estimated completion date in late 2025. Its location will still be right by the current one in the Macon city center on Washington Street, with a relatively small 4,000 square foot single-story building. It will, however, provide a ‘war room’ with updated emergency dispatch equipment and a director’s office.

The county collaborated with the city and the school district last year to complete renovations at the Noxubee Sportsplex as well, giving the facility new bleachers and an updated concession stand.

STORY BY CULLEN PARADIS

PHOTOS BY DEANNA ROBINSON