Columbus approved for $1 million grant to upgrade 5th Street, improve pedestrian safety

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Friday, the City of Columbus announced that they have been approved for more than one million dollars in grant money to make upgrades along 5th Street in Downtown Columbus.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation grant will go towards improving pedestrian safety from 5th Avenue to 9th Avenue by adding sidewalks and walkways.

The street will also be narrowed to help calm traffic and crews will construct islands to protect people crossing the street. City Engineer Kevin Stafford says he considers that area to be the front door of Columbus and making it as clean and welcoming as possible will better connect people to places like the Soccer Complex, Riverwalk, Burns Bottom, and downtown.

“People gravitate towards places they feel welcome, they feel safe. And so increasing the lighting and increasing the safety for pedestrians and bicycles will also reduce the speed through that area,” he says. “Accommodating everybody in the same space and making a nicer landscape will increase the value for that area. And we find often that when cities invest in themselves, the private sector also invests in themselves. And so this area has started a revitalization.”

Stafford expects it will be close to one year before they begin construction and expects the project to take four to six months.