MDOT: Highway 12 project on schedule

Motorists traveling along one of the Golden Triangle's busiest stretches of road will soon begin to see improvements as the Highway 12 safety project moves along on schedule.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) hopes to have the project completed before the holiday shopping season and work will continue into the beginning of football season on the safety upgrades.

Northern District Transportation Commissioner Mike Tagert spoke to the Starkville Rotary Club on Monday to give updates on the Highway 12 project and other MDOT efforts underway in the area.

Tagert said the upgrades - which include raised medians and improved signalization - will be finished by the end of October or the first of November, if not impacted by inclement weather.

“We molded that project to do most of the work at night to reduce impact to the traveling public,” Tagert said. “We are at the apex of the construction problems and delays and think most of that will be over in the next month.”

The improvements come following a safety audit conducted in 2015, which showed a staggering number of wrecks along the stretch of highway.

The audit found over 60 months, 1,664 crashes took place. This resulted in a yearly average of 100 injuries and millions of dollars in personal property damage.

“That's almost an accident per day, every single day, for five years,” Tagert said. “That's why this route was on our radar.”

Tagert said while the raised medians will present a certain level of beautification to the busy stretch of road, the primary goal is to reduce right-angle collisions, while also improving mobility and traffic flow.

Additionally, outdated traffic signals will be replaced with fiber optic connected signalization, which will help monitor and improve congestion.

“It's going to allow us to more finely tune timing and allows the entire route to communicate,” Tagert said. “The fi-

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