MDOT eyeing new idea to improve traffic at Madison Co. intersection

MADISON COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) – A design feature other states have used to help alleviate traffic concerns at busy intersections could soon be used in Madison County.

The feature is called a “Green T,” and engineers are drawing up plans to incorporate one at Mississippi 463 and Stribling Road.

Central District Transportation Commissioner Willie Simmons discussed plans at a recent Madison County Board of Supervisors meeting.

He said design work was underway but didn’t say when plans would be completed or how much the work would cost.

“Hopefully, we will be able to put that in place and it will give you some relief, but it’s not going to give you the relief that you need,” he said. “We just keep looking at ways to be able to enhance [463] but widening is not an option at this point.”

With a Green T, the intersection would be redesigned to better accommodate vehicles turning on and off Stribling Road, while also allowing a continuous flow of southbound traffic on 463.

“We looked at other states and they seem to help flow traffic in a situation like that. So, we’re going to try that in Madison,” he said. “That’s the first one we’re going to put in the state.”

Click here to see a video from the Indiana Department of Transportation showing how the intersections work.

463 is one of the busiest east-west corridors in Madison County, with about 4,700 vehicles traveling it each day near Stribling Road, according to the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s website.

A traffic study released by Kiser Traffic and Engineering in October 2023 showed both Stribling Road and Stribling Road Extension were over capacity, with the roads averaging 12,000 and 8,600 vehicles a day respectively.

State and county officials have been grappling with how to address traffic congestion in those areas for years.

Kiser’s report last year recommended widening Stribling to five lanes. Simmons believes the congestion will be alleviated once the Reunion Interchange is completed, giving residents another way to get to the interstate.

Simmons, meanwhile, says widening 463, a state highway, is off the table. “The closeness of homes and businesses that are located right next to the right-of-way, we don’t have any way of expanding it other than to buy up a lot of property and have folks move,” Simmons said. “That would not be a good play for us.”

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