MDOT: I‑55 preconstruction to finish by year-end; Highway 51 bridges, county work to continue

Brad, director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, told the Madison County Board of Supervisors that the preconstruction phase for the I‑55 project between Madison and Gluckstadt should be completed by the end of this calendar year and that MDOT could "start advertising that project this November, maybe in January" if the construction dollars are available.

The project would include the new interchange and other capacity work. "We expect to have all of the pre construction phase of that project completed by the end of this calendar year," Brad said. He described preconstruction as the work that moves utilities, acquires right of way, completes surveys and design and produces the documentation federal regulators require before a contract to build can be advertised and awarded.

Why it matters: Completing preconstruction readies the project for bidding and construction once funding is secured; those construction dollars still depend on a future legislative action, MDOT said. Brad said MDOT had previously received about $1 billion in one‑time legislative funding to advance large projects statewide and that the I‑55 project and a Highway 25 project in Rankin County were next on MDOT’s list. "If…