Utica native Willie Simmons, central commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT), said upgrading Vicksburg’s infrastructure is an undertaking often on his mind, especially when projects involve interstate or highway improvements. 

“I grew up just about 30 minutes from Vicksburg,” Simmons said while serving as the guest speaker at Wednesday’s Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce September Luncheon. “Whether you are driving or are on a public bus, or whether you have some cargo on the barges coming down, or on the rail coming across, it’s very important to you, because when we don’t do it right, that means there is going to be a disconnect in your community.”

Simmons specifically mentioned upgrades needed to Interstate 20 and its six Vicksburg exits.

“Vicksburg is one of those areas that is on my radar as your commissioner. We’re looking at how we can improve your entire system, going from Highway 61 back over to Highway 27, north and south,” Simmons said. “And that’s going to cost a lot of money. We estimated that, when we’ve fixed all your interchanges here in the Vicksburg area, we’ll be putting close to $800 million in. That’s a challenge for us, because we don’t have $800 million in the bank.”

As an example of needed work along Vicksburg’s I-20 corridor, Simmons pointed out the quick lane-changes a driver must navigate between entering I-20 from Highway 61, heading north, and exiting again onto Washington Street, headed downtown.

“You have here, in the Vicksburg area, one of the worst – if not the worst – safety systems on your interstate in the country,” Simmons said. “There’s a lot of interchanges. If you’re coming north on Highway 61 and you decide you want to go to Washington Street, you’ll need to get up on Interstate 20 and get over within about a football field and a half. That’s not a lot of space, especially when you have 18-wheelers traveling. So we’re looking at how we can improve your entire system. Clay Street has its issues. It’s all over your system.”

And Simmons said the design of Vicksburg and Warren County highways will also require an overhaul in order for them to serve the area as efficiently as possible. Simmons said adding lanes and widening right-of-ways along Highway 27 is a prime of example of needed improvements.

“You get a lot of traffic coming into Vicksburg from Interstate 55, coming over this way. And then you have great industry here that requires us to move on our corridors a lot of timber, in the way of log trucks. That is a challenge for us because of the way (Highway) 27 is designed. It’s a highway that has no shoulders, and there are curves and hills. Many years ago, our department looked at Highway 27 and said it was the most dangerous highway in our system. But, we never really put in place a plan. What we’ve been doing since I became your commissioner is working on a three-year plan. Our three-year plan works to get a project shelf-ready. If (the federal government) sends money down to us, we have to spend it in a certain amount of time. So, we have to work that cycle. We don’t have that project shelf-ready. We’re looking at all of that, as to how we can make it safe and move your traffic for both the citizens, as  well as the cargo coming to you.”

Simmons said those improvements are also vital for keeping industry in the River City.

“Industry like you have here, that is dependent on those log trucks coming in, if we have bridges that you can’t get across because of the weight, that company is going to take a look at it and pause to determine if they want to expand or not; whether they want to stay with you or leave. We work with the Board of Supervisors and the mayor and his staff, trying to make sure that we can move those projects.”