Preliminary Work to Begin Soon on West Oxford Loop Extension Phase 2

By Alyssa Schnugg
News Editor
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

Construction on phase one of West Oxford Loop is almost complete. Photo from XCavators, Inc.

Work is almost complete on the first phase of West Oxford Loop Extended, according to County Engineer Larry Britt.

“I would say in the next 30 days it should be open,” Britt told the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors Monday morning. “I’ve been through there several times and I think it’s going to be a great benefit to the county.”

The road is being extended from where West Oxford Loop ended to College Hill Road. The second phase will extend the road from College Hill to Industrial Park Drive. However, the $6 million-plus project has not yet been funded.

However, in its recent session, the Mississippi Legislature granted Lafayette County $1 million from the BP lawsuit funds toward the second phase project.

Britt asked the supervisors to allow those funds to be transferred to the Office of State Aid Road Construction to be used to complete design work, purchase any necessary rights-of-way and help with mitigating wetlands and the completion of an environmental study.

Having the BP funds handled by State Aid also allows the county to be eligible for further state and federal grants, like the federal BUILD Transportation Grant.

“We’ve applied in the past and haven’t received the grant yet but we are going to apply again,” said Supervisor Jeff Busby.

The board unanimously approved moving the BP funds to State Aid.