JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -
The announcement this week that Jackson's Fortification Street will get a re-do, prompted smiles and pats on the back for city leaders. But folks who live and travel in Jackson every day, hope other roads won't be forgotten.
Sandra Smith travels McDowell Road every day.
"I've lived here all my life. I've seen a steady decline in the way the roads are," she says.
Smith points out a section of McDowell Road just west of Raymond Road heading toward Highway 18. Ruts and cracks are visible.
Smith also shows us a portion near Key Elementary School. The pavement is uneven and patched up.
"They do come by and patch places, but the first rain you have, it washes away. The ones that don't wash away when they patch it, instead of it being a hole, it's a hump, it still tears up your vehicle," she says.
Back in February, 3 On Your Side reported on a metal plate on a heavily traveled portion of McDowell Road. We learned it was put there temporarily as crews worked on a utility line. Today, it's gone, and patched up.
We also noticed that a small stretch of the roadway, just west of Suncrest Drive, has been repaved.
"I thought they were fixing to repave the whole thing. For some reason, they just paved from the stop light to halfway up the road. And then stopped," Smith says.
We're still awaiting word from the city on when the rest of McDowell will be fixed.
Back in February, the city told us crews were in the process of rating all the streets and roads in Jackson, and developing a priority list for paving. We are waiting to hear where McDowell Road falls on that priority list.
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