The City of Ridgeland celebrated the start of construction of the Lake Harbour Drive Widening Project with a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, September 4.  Officials, contractors, and members of the public attended the history-making event.  Construction is to begin immediately by the City’s contractor, Eutaw Construction Company, Inc.  Engineering and design were completed by Waggoner Engineering, Inc.
 
Lake Harbour Drive is being widened to five lanes from Northpark Drive to Highway 51.  The new roadway will be similar to the portion of Lake Harbour Drive located east of Northpark Drive.  Included in the design:  center turn lane, landscaping, multi-use trail, new traffic signals and new water lines.
 
Mike McCollum, Director of Public Works, said,” A truly desperately needed improvement to Lake Harbour Drive was identified in the 2003 Ridgeland Transportation Plan as a critical east-west corridor. Once complete, motorists will save time, money and fuel in their daily commutes.”

Gene McGee, Mayor, said, “I am excited that after many years of planning that the Lake Harbour widening has started. This will prove to be one of the most important road reconstruction projects in the Metropolitan area, because of the tremendous amount of traffic it carries. Our citizens will benefit greatly because of this project.”
 
At the time of the 2003 Transportation Plan, the daily traffic count was 14,000 vehicles per day. The widening project was approved by the Metropolitan Planning Organization in May, 2006. At least 72 parcels or parts of parcels were purchased for this project, and thirteen relocations of homeowners took place due to the project.
 
 
Costs of the project
The City of Ridgeland paid $5.6 million for property appraisals, right-of-way acquisition, legal fees, and design costs.
The construction contract is for $10.2 million; engineering is for $1.1 million.  The federal share is $8.7 million of the construction and engineering.
 
The construction will take 609 calendar days or approximately 20 months to complete. When construction begins, the first items to expect are the placement of traffic control devices and erosion control measures. The clearing of right of way will begin followed by installation of new storm drains and water lines.
 
Traffic signals will become disrupted at times during construction. Every effort will be taken to keep the signals running as well as possible. The public is asked to be patient during this construction period and to be mindful of the safety of workers.