An influx of money could help smooth the roads in Mississippi

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – An influx of money could help smooth the roads in Mississippi.

The state is in line to receive a billion dollars for road and bridge projects over the next 5 years from the infrastructure bill recently passed by Congress.

That’s going to take some cooperation from the state legislature. Lawmakers will have to have to put up about 200 million in matching funds.

Mississippi Department of Transportation Director Brad White says the legislature is looking for alternate sources of funding, so the money won’t have to come from his department’s budget.

White also says that proceeds from the lottery are also going a long way to helping improve state highways.

“By and large, I think that we have a good system, but we can’t take our eye off the prize, I mean, we do have to maintain the investment that the taxpayers have, while at the same time, trying to stay on top of the changes that are needed or the upgrades that are needed to deal with the growth of traffic and economic development and safety concerns that may arise around the state,” said Brad White, Executive Director of MDOT.

White points to staff shortages as the biggest single challenge at MDOT.