Getwell Road construction work ahead of schedule
Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite has used his social media channels to give an update of the widening project on Getwell Road south of Church Road to Starlanding Road in the city.
Musselwhite said the stretch of Getwell Road has the largest traffic volume of any non-state highway or interstate highway in the DeSoto County and the $14 million project to address the traffic demand has progressed very well and should be finished ahead of an expected October completion date.
Medians are being added as part of the work on Getwell Road, and some have publicly called into question the reason for medians. Musselwhite stressed the median design is being done as a safety measure.
“Yes, they do improve the look of the road aesthetically because they can be landscaped, but that is not their primary purpose,” Musselwhite wrote. “It is a proven fact that medians save lives and separating the traffic saves lives.”
The mayor went on to say that medians will slow traffic down and that drivers will pay better attention traveling through the roadway.
“High-speed rear-end collisions and drivers driving long distances down a center turning lane caused many accidents here before,” the mayor said. “Medians drastically minimize these risks.”
Curb cuts and left turning lanes at major side entrances are also included along with turning lanes and signals at College and Starlanding Road intersections.
In announcing the project in a Facebook post in 2023, the mayor detailed the financial cost of the project.
This project was original projected to cost $10,545,740. The federal fund allocation is $7,887,061. The lowest bid and actual cost of this project is $14,060,127! Since the Star Landing intersection improvements were included in a previous DeSoto County MPO project that extended from Star Landing to Pleasant Hill Rd, the City could not include this in our project per MPO rules. DeSoto County is assisting with this intersection signal and widening which costs $875,000, leaving the City with the remainder of the project cost totaling $5,298,066. (Mayor Darren Musselwhite)
