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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MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – There is something about being on the water that makes Devin Brown feel at home.

Soon, her passion for paddling the mighty Mississippi will go the extra mile. 

“I’m really excited to actually get on the water and start the journey. I’m just really looking forward to the freedom of being on the river,” said Brown.

Brown fell in love with the river during a business trip to the Twin Cities back in 2012.

She decided to change careers and move to Minneapolis from New Jersey to take advantage of the area’s easy access to water.

Brown also took up kayaking and teaches classes tailored to Black and brown people who may not always feel welcome in the great outdoors.

“I have been called racial slurs on the river. Most recently, I was doing a race in Mora, Minnesota and someone just outwardly yelled ‘You don’t belong here’. And for them, I absolutely belong here,” said Brown.

Now Brown will attempt to become the first Black woman to kayak the length of the Mississippi, from the source to the sea, on her own.

She hopes the 2,300-mile adventure from Lake Itasca to the Gulf Of Mexico will inspire other people of color to connect with nature.

“The visibility of this trip is important, so that I can show little Black and brown girls that we belong in nature and to do things that people don’t think are for Black people,” said Brown. 

Brown says the trip will also be a spiritual journey, where she can blaze a trail on the water, one stroke at a time.

“I know that there’s a version of myself out there on the river that I’m meant to meet. I’m really excited to meet the next version of myself to do more for my community, to get more people into nature and on the river,” said Brown.

Brown plans to embark on her journey down the Mississippi at the end of the month.

If you’d like to donate to her mission, click here.