Counties in Mississippi are being urged to join a list of 427 cities nationwide lining up to request billions in federal dollars expected to be offered in the Obama administration’s plan to jump-start the economy.

For Warren County, that could shuffle the county’s list of road and bridge projects normally planned over four-year intervals, as well as provide the first peek at the costs of a new jail.

Details won’t become clear until after Inauguration Day on what is shaping up to be the largest domestic infrastructure initiative since the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. However, groups such as the Mississippi Association of Supervisors and the Mississippi Municipal League cite rising costs to all local government as a reason to create a huge program, estimated to reach $700 billion if implemented.

“What we’re doing now is trying to put that information before the counties and have them forward it to the federal congressional delegation,” MAS director of member services and legislative liaison Steve Gray said.

Projects in 24 Mississippi cities appeared on a list of 11,391 projects identified by the U.S. Conference of Mayors as “Ready to Go” — as the 803-page report is subtitled — after surveys in November and December. Most were in Jackson, Hattiesburg and Meridian and covered a wide array of projects ranging from airport renovations, street paving and sewer improvements.   

Nationwide, the projects are concentrated in large metropolitan areas. The top five largest requests target roadway and community development projects in Miami, Sacramento, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Albuquerque, N.M.

Obama has said 2.5 million jobs would be created by 2010 as a result of the plan if funds are expedited.

Locally, county supervisors have directed engineers to revise a list of about 330 road segments eyed for resurfacing and several bridge replacement projects awaiting funding.

Top on the list appears to be paving Henry Lake Road, in northwest Warren County near Ceres Industrial Park, from the current end of pavement to Freetown Road. The project has been estimated at $1,141,085 on county road plan reports the past two years, but has awaited state aid money from the Mississippi Department of Transportation Office of State Aid Road Construction. Similar funds will finance resurfacing Eagle Lake Shore and Tucker roads, for which construction bids were recently awarded.

“It would make an impact that would be significant,” Board President Richard George said, meeting with county engineers Monday. George said past attempts to make Henry Lake Road a completely paved road bogged down in right-of-way talks with affected property owners.

Another project mentioned for the federal initiative was some form of reconstruction of Bovina Cutoff Road, parts of which are unpaved.  

About $1.6 million in bridge improvements to replace aging structures along Fisher Ferry Road could also be under consideration for inclusion on a local list, expected to be in supervisors’ hands Monday when it meets for the first time in the new year.

“Everything on the four-year plan is an option,” County Engineer John McKee said, referencing the state-mandated infrastructure plan updated annually by supervisors, usually in February. Last year’s report detailed $13 million in projects ranging from road striping to resurfacing. Six in the construction phase a year ago have been completed.

Inquiries about the jail would produce the first firm estimate of its cost, county officials indicated. A study to determine its location and size is under way by Colorado-based Voorhis/Robertson Justice Services Inc., but will not recommend any funding mechanisms. Nonetheless, the project list to be prepared by county engineers will include both road projects and the proposed jail.

Vicksburg officials, through its Planning Department, have received similar requests from the state municipal league to submit ideas for the state’s federal lawmakers, Mayor Laurence Leyens said when reached Monday.

However, Leyens doubted any city-generated projects not already in line for federal funds would see any action because of the sheer volume of requests nationally.

Last week, the city announced it would match a $262,000 appropriation to buy property adjacent to Vicksburg Municipal Airport to ease landings and takeoffs. In November, bids were taken on the long-planned sports complex off Fisher Ferry Road, to be financed initially by part of the $16.9 million bond issue in 2007.

The Works Progress Administration was one of several “new deal” programs initiated by President Franklin Roosevelt in an attempt to provide jobs and boost commerce following the 1929 crash on Wall Street. Vicksburg benefited from many of the projects at the time, including improved drainage and roads and paving and landscaping in the Vicksburg National Military Park.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com.