Mississippi State University students and Oktibbeha county residents  continually express concerns about the conditions on Blackjack Road. 
Blackjack Road connects  county outskirts to the university campus. It is also home to several apartment complexes that houses thousands of students. 
Brianna Roulier, who regularly visits Starkville, says she is always nervous when driving on Blackjack Road.
“When I got to town on Friday night, the road was wet and the lack of lines on the road made it hard to see the edge in the dark,” Roulier said. “Someone on the opposite side of the road nearly caused me to run off the road because they were trying to avoid a pothole.” 
Blackjack Road has become a popular place for new student housing projects due to the availability of large sections of land. The construction brings heavy equipment that causes further damage to the already poor road conditions. 
Major improvements to the Blackjack area will take place after three major construction projects have been completed.
Aspen Heights, which opened last year, was the first of these three projects. The construction of a new apartment complex by Innovative Real Estate Companies, is the second. 
Construciton is expected to be complete in the summer of 2016. 
The new student housing development is located on the intersection of Blackjack and Hardy Road.
A third project has yet to be determined, meaning major road improvements are not likely to be included in the Board of Supervisors’ plans for the next few years. Blackjack road is not currently on the 2015 maintenance agenda. 
Orlando Trainer, president of the board of supervisors, said although major improvements are not currently in the works, the board tries to provide the county’s road manager with enough money to maintain the road in the meantime. 
“We try to provide him the resources he needs so he can execute and keep up with maintenance, as far as the amount of money in the budget [will go], based upon what we want to try to do,” Trainer said.
Blackjack Road falls on a dividing line between two separate supervisors’ districts.  Trainer said Oktibbeha county utilizes the unit system, meaning when voting on matters such as which roads receive major work, the entire board votes rather than leaving the decision to one supervisor. 
This year citizens registered to vote in Oktibbeha County will have the opportunity to elect district supervisors. Voters with concerns about Blackjack Road can make them known to their district’s supervisor. Every supervisor currently on the board is running for re-election.
 

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Taylor Bowden | The Reflector

Blackjack Construction 2