Supervisors Claude Fluker and Dill Tucker are seeking relief from the closure of Highway 17. Fluker told the board that since the closure of an 11-mile stretch of Highway 17 South, which runs through both the communities of Coila and Black Hawk, he’s been seeking help from the Mississippi Department of Transportation but no avail.
Because of the closure, people are now utilizing County Roads 157, 60 and 23. All three are gravel roads that can’t take much traffic and it’s becoming costly for both Fluker and Tucker.
And both supervisors are frustrated, Fluker more so than Tucker. Highway 17 anchors both Beats 3 and 4 and is a thruway for traffic. But, the detours are not only an inconvenience to the residents, it’s a headache for the supervisors themselves.
And all are seeking some sort of relief.
“I’ve been calling them and I talk to someone and they’ll tell you, ‘I’ll return your phone call,’ and they never do,” Fluker said. “I’ve put dollars into 157, I’ve put dollars into 23, and I can’t keep doing this.” Fluker said the traffic is putting a strain on the road and nothing has been done to Highway 17 with the exception of the barricades.
“Have you tried talking to the Commissioner?’ Supervisor Jim Neill asked.
“You call them and call them and you never can get anyone on the phone,” Tucker said.
“He won’t answer at all?” Neill asked.
“I’ve called him, Dill called him and they won’t answer,” Fluker said.
Fluker asked Board Attorney Kevin Horan to draw up a resolution to be sent to the North District MDOT Commissioner John Caldwell and the District Engineer in Batesville. Horan said he’d draw it up and present it to the board at their next meeting on March 30.
Also, the board approved a land use agreement with RES for the use of County Road …. And any road needed for the construction of the Delta’s Edge Solar Farm. The agreement is contingent upon RES’s attorney Lee Hill being in agreement with the changes made by Horan.
