Road work in Meehan area continues as part of State Aid road project

As Lauderdale County announced the completion of a road improvements package Thursday, work to repair additional county roads is already underway.

Meehan Savoy Road, Suqualena Meehan Road, York Road and Centerhill Martin Road are part of a State Aid Road project bid out in December. Work on the roads includes pre-leveling, chip sealing and micro sealing, said Road and Bridge Coordinator Ryan Mosley.

“They’re laying the base down in some of our more problem areas, rutting, cracking areas and stuff like that. They’ll be clipping the shoulders as well, getting the drainage right on it, but really just doing kind of like a base layer,” he said. “Then they’ll come through right there at the end, their last process will be whole surface treatment of it. They’ll do a chip seal and micro seal.”

The work is being done by Chris Albritton Construction, out of Laurel, for a total cost of $3.2 million. Albritton submitted the lowest and best of six bids received.

Mosley said crews are currently tackling the pre-leveling work on Meehan Savoy Road. Once that is complete the contractor can come in and pave, he said. Workers will likely be in the area for the next month or so due to the amount of base repair needed.

“We knew there was a lot of base repair on this road,” he said.

Also on the list is Centerhill Martin Road, which is heavily used by vehicles traveling to and from local schools. Mosley said Albritton is aiming to tackle that road after school lets out for the year in May.

“Everything’s going fine. No trouble so far,” he said.

Funding for the road project is coming from the county’s allotment of State Aid Program funds. Counties receive money from the Mississippi Office of State Aid Road Construction to address roads and bridges on designated State Aid routes each board term (every four years). The funds are specifically for State Aid roads and bridges, and cannot be used for other infrastructure.

Counties also receive Local System Bridge Program, or LSBP funds, for bridges not on State Aid routes, as well as State Aid Bridge Program funds, which are a newer pot of money specifically aimed at addressing problem bridges on State Aid routes.