In February, 38 board members from Mississippi and four other states attended the annual meeting of the El Camino Five-State East/West Corridor Commission in Washington, D.C. This meeting has been there for the last six years to seek transportation funds for the completion of the four-laning of this 1,729-mile roadway that stretches across Texas beginning at El Paso and continuing across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. The mid-point of this corridor is the Natchez-Vidalia region.

Attending from Mississippi were David Gardner, City of Natchez; Jeff Knight, WGK, Inc., Engineers and Surveyors, Brookhaven; Monticello Mayor Dave Nichols and aldermen; and myself.

This corridor is named for El Camino Real, Spanish for “The King’s Highway,” which this historic trail will duplicate. The oldest road in Texas, El Camino started as an Indian trail expanded and improved by the Spanish to link their Louisiana, east Texas missions and forts to Mexico. Our forefathers traveled this route to settle this country. This project extends through the heartland of the Old South, crossing 48 counties and six parishes, directly impacting more than 1.5 million residents.

The first meeting to bring Mississippi into this Five-State Regionalism Project was in Natchez in 1994 attended by 94 mayors and county supervisors. A resolution was passed unanimously to participate officially forming the Five-State El Camino Corridor Commission.

I was elected president of the commission in 2005 and the first order of business was to move the annual meeting from the local level to Washington, D.C. When Willie Sutton, the famous bank robber of the 1930s, was asked why he robbed banks, he responded, “Because that is where the money is.” The same can be said for going to Washington, D.C. — that is where the money is.

Mississippi, through MDOT, has set the benchmark for this four-lane effort. On Thursday, Dec. 15, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was in Waynesboro to celebrate the completion of the four-laning of U.S. 84 across Mississippi, an integral part of Mississippi’s 1987 four-lane program. The cost of this 186.2 miles from Adams County to the Alabama state line at Wayne County was approximately $130 million spanning 25 years over four phases of construction.

In 1987, after years of determined efforts by a dedicated citizens group, Mississippi Moving AHEAD (Advocating Highways for Economic Advancement and Development), the Mississippi Legislature passed a long-range four-lane highway program, the most comprehensive in the country. Through this powerful legislation, MDOT and Mississippi made a commitment to its rural population and business community that every town in Mississippi would have access to a four-lane highway within 30 minutes. Mississippi is reaping the benefits of this new infrastructure.

While it is certainly advantageous for Mississippi to have a four-lane highway, it is infinitely better if that highway is four-laned on either side to provide a continuous flow of traffic and goods in and out of the Magnolia state. Time is money and one primary purpose of this project is to serve as an economic boost to the regions through which U.S. 84 passes. The corridor is largely rural in nature with the principal occupations being textiles and apparel, wood and wood products and agriculture. These industries have suffered great financial losses and closure in many cases because of the downturn in the local, national and global economy. Four-laning will provide improved and expedient routes for points of delivery. Distribution centers and small business will spring up. Tourism opportunities will develop. The traveling public will move faster and safer. Two other reasons now call for this continued four-laning: the movement of many people inward quickly and safely on short notice due to impending natural disasters and the benefit in the interests of national defense.

The common objective of the commission is to create a better transportation system. Education, economic development and transportation are vital to the growth of any area. Without a first-class transportation system, nothing else can thrive. It is hard to argue that economic success follows investment in infrastructure.

Mississippi’s 1987 four-lane program is the envy of the commission and the country. Many states have tried to copy it and failed. This was certainly not easy legislation to get passed — years of meetings and planning, failure to pass the legislature one year and finally passage in 1987 on an override of the governor’s veto by one House vote.

Mississippi board members are giving support in an unusual but effective way in D.C. by accompanying the other state board members to their congressional meetings. With the economy in such a dire financial crunch, the necessity of thinking and working together for the greater benefit is bringing businesses, communities and states together to promote more regional decisions. Not only are the annual meetings beneficial but board members are making great strides on the state level by meeting with their departments of transportation and legislators and encouraging them to provide state funding.

Georgia has completed 91 percent of its 259 miles; Alabama 52 percent of its 234.7 miles; Louisiana 15 percent of its 168 miles and Texas 73 percent of its 704 miles.

The commission is having an impact in Washington and each state. We will keep the momentum going for this extremely important project.

 

Janet Sullivan is on the El Camino Five-State East/West Corridor Commission and an employee of the Mississippi Department of Transportation.