Residents traveling along Hwy. 15 between Newton and Decatur may have seen road work signs popping up recently as work is set to begin giving the highway a much needed makeover.
Randal Copeland, maintenance director at Mississippi Department of Transportation Highway Department in Newton, said the work will include fixing cracks, milling down the road and adding a fresh layer of asphalt.
“They’re fixing to do an overlay,” he said. “They’ll mill it down and overlay it with asphalt.”
The bid for the project, which was awarded in October 2019, calls for the top 1 1/2 inches of asphalt to be removed and an additional 2-inches to be added on top. The Scope of Work documentation also calls for grading the shoulders of the road with crushed rock, adding rumble stripes and installing guard rails. The work will span approximately 7-miles of Hwy. 15 between I-20 and the Town of Decatur near Decatur Family Medical Clinic.
Although the project was awarded in October, Copeland said the project was not scheduled to start until April. The delay, he explained, gives the contractor time to line up subcontractors, order materials and get plans in order to make everything go smoothly.
In the coming weeks, Copeland said residents will start to see more activity and possible lane closures along the highway. After the signage is up, he said the next step is to fill all the cracks in the road prior to milling work. By fixing the cracks now, the contractor can avoid having to go back and make adjustments once the milling is done.
“It gives you a smooth surface to work on,” he said.
The project is expected to cost approximately $2.4 million and take several months to complete.
