A task force assembled by Mayor Harry Smith will lobby state lawmakers to four-lane Mississippi 7 between Greenwood and Grenada.
That section of the highway was at the bottom of a list of prospective upgrades under the state House version of Vision 21, the Mississippi Department of Transportation's new road-building plan. The Senate plan does not include Mississippi 7. It would add a passing lane to U.S. 49 East between Greenwood and Yazoo City.
The first Vision 21 map prioritized certain sections of state highways over others based mainly on traffic counts. In a recently amended map, some low-priority highways emerged as immediate projects.
"That indicates to me it's just a political process," Smith said.
The task force decided to take its case directly to lawmakers.
"It would benefit all of us if we are able to convince the powers that be that we've got to have highway development in our area in order to secure our future," said Ronnie Robertson of Delta Electric Power Association.
Robertson, a former state representative, said Leflore County, though not as bright on the political spectrum as larger communities, has clout in veteran Sen. Bunky Huggins, R-Greenwood. Community leaders must call on Huggins and other Leflore County lawmakers to make an impact on the Legislature and MDOT, he said.
Smith said he created the task force after the Legislature on Feb. 24 bumped up U.S. 61 between Leland and Vicksburg from the long-range group to the immediate.
That reconsideration occurred after state House Appropriations Chairman Charlie Capps, D-Cleveland, negotiated with legislators and MDOT officials. Capps, a 30-year veteran of the House, said he pushed the change because MDOT initially expressed its intentions to upgrade the road 20 years ago.
Leflore County may even have to tap into a larger political network that includes Capps, Smith said. "We have good legislators, and of course we have other friends in the Delta," he said. "Charlie Capps we'd have to consider a good friend of the Delta."
Steve Lary, a Greenwood banker and member of the task force, said the group is trying to communicate with lawmakers more effectively than by just picking up the phone. "We need to get the local legislators and maybe folks from our group to sit down with Mr. Capps and some of the MDOT people and see what can be done," he said.
Left out of a 1987 road-building plan, Greenwood and Leflore County cannot afford to be snubbed from Vision 21, Smith said. "Our future depends on our ability to get this plan amended to address our needs."
The task force singled out four-laning Mississippi 7 as the top priority. The road would provide four-lane access to Interstate 55 and eventually a northbound corridor to Interstate 69, which will extend through the western part of the Delta.
In his office Wednesday, Smith pointed to the amended Vision 21 map. The routes marked in red indicated immediate plans, yellow meant medium-range, and green was "special consideration." The only color near Greenwood was a sliver of green snaking up Mississippi 7 to Grenada.
"I'm not sure what 'special consideration' is," Smith said.
Smith said the rallying cry of the transportation task force is "We want some red in our map."
