Highland Parkway, the shortcut that had a short life, is expected to reopen by early next year, weather permitting.
Work to fix the road’s deficiencies began in early September.
Picayune Public Works Director Eric Morris said the work is a coordinated effort between the county, city and the developer, but the city is heading up the project.
Total estimated cost to complete the work is $468,446, with the largest portion coming from the price of the asphalt, $153,000.
Work is scheduled to take place for 120 calendar days, putting the expected date of completion sometime in early January.
The road was temporarily used earlier this year, even though it wasn’t complete. During that use, base failures became evident, leading to its subsequent closure.
Aspects of the work will address drainage issues through the installation of green space drainage, repairs to curb and gutter and reclamation of the current asphalt to create a better base in the areas with the most damage. Morris said the green space drainage features will be installed on the north and south sides of the road, and some of the existing curb and gutter will need to be cut out and reinstalled. Concrete headwalls will be installed in some of the existing drainage features.
City Engineer Vernon Moore said that part of the reason for the road’s failure was the base was wet when the asphalt was installed. To fix this problem, asphalt in those areas will be reclaimed, or recycled through the use of a machine that will grind it up and put it back in the base. That mixture will be strengthened though the use of cement, Moore said. This process was used to fix a portion of Runway Road near the Municipal Airport recently.
Finally, a new layer of asphalt will be installed, including a tie-in from U.S. 11 to Highland Parkway.
So far, four drainage headwalls have been poured and bush hogging of the areas to be used for drainage have been completed. Friday, crews were working along Highland Parkway reshaping areas along the side of the road that will be used for drainage.
Other major expenses in the project include the roadbed reclamation, $29,000 and the cement, $75,950.