The Mississippi Department of Transportation recently approved a plan to construct a multi-use path connecting Starkville neighborhoods to schools, the Mississippi State University campus, parks and other venues.The $1.5 million plan, proposed by Starkville In Motion and the City of Starkville, was officially approved by MDOT on Jan. 11.
The Lynn Lane multi-use path will be about 3.4 miles long. It will begin on the MSU campus at Robert L. Jones Drive and run through Spring Street, Locksley Way, South Montgomery, Lynn Lane, Miss Highway 25 and Industrial Park Road.
Unlike the bike lane on University Drive, the Lynn Lane path will be separate from the road.
“This will be off the road and protected by several feet of green space,” said Matt Cox, Ward 5 alderman and SIM board member.
Ron Cossman, an assistant professor for social science research, said the separation will make the path safer for those who will be using it.
“It’s an easy, safe and healthy way to get to campus: easy in the sense that it’s quicker to get to campus, safe in that you don’t have to share the road with vehicles and healthy because it’s better than driving a vehicle,” he said.
Cossman is also the Lynn Lane committee chair for Starkville In Motion. A grassroots organization composed of almost 100 Starkville citizens, government officials, business owners and other organizations, SIM is dedicated to establishing bike lanes, sidewalks and trails in the Starkville area.
Ward 4 Alderman Richard Corey said SIM played an instrumental role in launching the Lynn Lane project.
“Starkville in Motion deserves a lot of credit. They did the research … They made it easier on us [city officials],” he said.
Cossman said the project will link residential and recreational areas to the university and local schools.
“In roughly 3.4 miles, we’re going to connect a lot of groups and a lot of facilities,” he said.
“This is huge for two reasons. One, it marks an era of cooperation between the city and the university, and second, it serves two very important populations. It serves the student body and it will also serve the local community,” Cossman said.
“What we’re trying to do is provide a network,” said SIM president Jimmy Richardson. “This [Lynn Lane] is one step in the process.”
Cossman said that while Mississippi State already has bike paths, the addition of the Lynn Lane path will further enhance the system.
“Students will be able to access campus safely,” he said. “The MSU campus has a pretty good bike path system already. This will add to it.”
The Lynn Lane project helps support the master plan to remove vehicles from the core of the Mississippi State campus due to traffic issues, Cossman said.
Starkville and Mississippi State received a transportation enhancement grant, which comes from the federal government through MDOT, for constructing the path.
The Lynn Lane project went up against other possible projects throughout Mississippi seeking grants. Cossman said the entire process was very competitive.
The project is an 80/20 match program, meaning that the City of Starkville and Mississippi State will pay 20 percent of the costs of their renovations, and the government grant will cover 80 percent.
The City of Starkville will construct the majority of the project, starting at the signal at Spring Street and Locksley Way and running past McKee Park. The city’s 20 percent match for the 3.18-mile section is $273,969.
Donated labor, preliminary surveying and engineering jobs, construction materials or value of donated property can help fill the match.
Mississippi State is responsible for constructing the section connecting Robert L. Jones Drive to Locksley Way at Blackjack Road. The 20 percent match for the university is $32,313.
Richardson said SIM would appreciate students’ input on the project in areas such as the number of bike racks to put in and where they would be placed.
“We would really like for students to communicate with us because we need assistance,” he said.
Cox said he thinks that many students will be using the path. Before the bike lane on University Drive was constructed, only about 75 students per day biked on the street. With the lane, close to 400 students ride bikes on University every day, he said.
Junior mechanical engineering major Rob Cochran is one of the many students who uses a bike to get around campus and town.
“If it’s on University, I’ll still bike unless it’s amazingly cold. I don’t like to drive. I don’t even have a decal,” he said.
While riding in Starkville, he was nearly hit by a truck going 55 mph. The truck passed another car, cutting into the lane in which Cochran was riding since there was not a bike lane.
He has been looking for safer ways to get to Industrial Park Road, Old Highway 25 and the sportsplex, he said.
“This will make it much easier and safer to ride,” he said.
Freshman communication major Ross Lockwood said he would not only use the path for transportation but that it sounds like it would be a scenic route to exercise on.
“With it being 3.4 miles, I would definitely run on it,” he said.
Corey said he hopes the path will help reduce some of the traffic on campus.
“This gives people more choices and helps us to further lead the way to more ways of transit,” he said.
Mississippi ranks third as the most obese state for children between the ages of 10 to 17.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed 65 percent of Mississippi residents as overweight or obese.
In 2005, Men’s Fitness magazine ranked Mississippi State the third fattest college in the nation.
Cox said the path will also provide for the recreational and exercise needs of the Starkville community and university students.
Citing the smoking ban in Starkville, he said the city is being seen by the rest of the state as a leader in healthy living.
“We need to provide safer opportunities to exercise,” he said.
City of Starkville Engineer Bill Webb met with Mississippi Transportation Commission officials last week in Jackson. He could not be reached for comments in regards to when construction is expected to begin.