Public gets chance to comment
on controversial interchange

By Staff
November 15, 2003
By Fredie Carmichael / staff writer
Residents will get their first chance Thursday to talk with local, state and federal officials about a controversial interchange proposed to serve a new industrial park on Interstate 20/59.
Meridian officials will host their first public meeting about the planned interchange from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. in the city's municipal courtroom at the downtown police station on Sixth Street.
Monty Jackson, Meridian's public works director, said officials from the Mississippi Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration will be at the meeting to present the preliminary plans and answer questions from the public. A formal public hearing on the interchange will be scheduled in the near future, Jackson said.
The meeting comes months after controversy surfaced when local residents questioned the proposed location of the interchange, which will be partly funded from $6 million already appropriated by Congress. The site is about 2 miles from the industrial park.
In July, resident Roy Hurst quizzed Lauderdale County supervisors about the location of the interchange and questioned who might benefit financially from its location.
At the time, Hurst said he and other residents wanted to know who picked the interchange site and why it runs through a private industrial park land that maps show is owned by Great South Development Inc.
Hurst said he's excited about Thursday's public meeting and plans to attend armed with questions.
Jackson said he believes the public meeting will be beneficial to everyone.