The city of Jackson plans to improve a one-mile stretch of MLK Jr. Drive. The $7.5 million project called “Martin Luther King Reimagined” is designed to create more green space and encourage redevelopment along the way.
The plan calls for changing the section of MLK Drive from a four-lane street to a two-lane one, with additional parking.
Jackson County Commissioner John Willis says during Jackson’s peak, the city had a population of about 55,000 people. Today, that number is down to 30,000.
“ You got to think about it now. We don't have the population that was maintaining the street at that time,” Willis said, adding there’s no longer a need to devote the resources to maintaining four lanes.
Willis also says the plan should improve safety.
“If a person is walking up Ridgeway Street, and they need to cross to the other side of MLK Drive, now they have to walk across at least four lanes,” he said. “For a pedestrian, that's not really a good, safe crossing.”
Planners hope that making the street more walkable will encourage more traffic to existing businesses and spur new development in the community.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.