Jackson Free Press

Is the money being spent on developing a Byram-Clinton Parkway worth it? That's the question District 5 Supervisor Kenneth Stokes asked at this morning's Hinds County Board of Supervisors meeting.

The 18-mile corridor is a proposed multi-lane route between Byram at Interstate 55 South, extending northwest to the Norrell Road interchange at Interstate 20 in Clinton. The corridor will consist of retail, residential and commercial development.

Stokes said even though the county has been pouring "millions of dollars" into buying land for the project, he has seen little interest from business developers to relocate along the proposed parkway.

"This Byram-Clinton corridor has been in the news, but I don't see enough developers at the table," Stokes said.

District 3 Supervisor Peggy Hobson-Calhoun, the board's most ardent supporter of the project, has said the corridor would relieve traffic congestion, promote economic development and create jobs.

Calhoun rebuffed Stokes, saying that federal money has funded most of the work up until now. In September 2011, Hinds County received $1.2 million from the Federal Highway Administration to develop the Byram-Clinton Corridor. The funds will help connect Interstate 20 to Sam Herring Road and provide access to the John Bell Williams Airport and Industrial Park. The supervisors voted in 2010 to earmark $2 million for the project out of $14 million remaining from a 2007 bond issue. Calhoun added that two congressmen, Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson and Republican U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, support the idea.

This morning, the board paid $1.4 million to Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes for legal work related to Bryam-Clinton corridor land acquisition.