By By Steve Swogetinsky/The Meridian Star
March 30, 2001
PHILADELPHIA A "bottleneck" in downtown traffic is about to be corrected with the help of the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
Main Street and Beacon are the two main streets running east and west, respectively, through downtown Philadelphia. Both are one-way streets.
About 500 feet of Main Street, west of the Neshoba County Courthouse, turns from being a two-lane street into a one lane road. It then goes back to being opened for two lanes of traffic. Mayor Rayburn Waddell said city officials are working with MDOT to correct the problem.
Waddell said that more than 15,000 vehicles pass through Philadelphia every day. Before the Silver Star Casino opened, he estimated that average might have been around 3,000.
Beacon Street and Main Street were two-way streets until 1998 when the city converted them to one-way streets. Beacon Street had also been the route for highways 16 and 21 through Philadelphia. Main Street was a city street until it was changed to one-way. Then it became part of state highways 16 and 21.
The first step will be to acquire the land. Waddell said the city will hire a realtor who appraise the land needed and negotiate with landowners.
Once the land has been purchased, Waddell said it shouldn't take that long to get the work done.
Steve Swogetinsky is regional editor of The Meridian Star. E-mail him at sswogetinsky@themeridianstar.com.