MDOT: Political pressure driving road connecting Tate Reeves' subdivision, shopping center

Geoff Pender | Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Reeves Way: Connecting Oakridge Trails to Dogwood Festival Market MDOT has plans for an additional $2 million frontage road project along Lakeland Drive that will connect Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves' gated subdivision to Dogwood Festival Market shopping center. The project is a result of an earmark passed by the Legislature.

While the state grapples with how to pay to fix crumbling roads and bridges, the Mississippi Department of Transportation is being politically forced to build a $2-million drive from Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves’ gated neighborhood to a nearby shopping hub.

The project is ostensibly for safety of neighborhood motorists, but MDOT records obtained by the Clarion Ledger indicate safety is not the issue and that Reeves' office kept tabs on it while his neighborhood's homeowners association was deeply involved in the project's planning.

The new road project comes after Reeves and the Senate forced MDOT to leap-frog $43 million to widen Mississippi 25/Lakeland Drive near his neighborhood over repairs to deteriorated roads and bridges elsewhere across the state.

As some lawmakers continue to criticize MDOT as inefficient and lacking priorities for roadwork, the Legislature frequently overrides the agency’s priorities by ordering millions of dollars of pet projects in MDOT’s annual budget legislation.

This map shows the location of the proposed $2-million road between the entrance to two gated subdivisions — Dogwood Place and Oakridge Trail — and Dogwood Boulevard. (If you cannot see the map, click here.)

MDOT: No road without 'political pressure'

MDOT plans to start an estimated $2 million project this month to build a “frontage road” from Oakridge Trail to Dogwood Boulevard, as part of the larger Lakeland Drive widening project.

Update:: MDOT puts brakes on building road near Lt. Gov. Reeves' neighborhood

The new road will start near the locked-gate entrances of Oakridge Trail — where Reeves lives — and Dogwood Place subdivisions and end at the Dogwood Festival Market shopping center. The road would not front any current developments and would likely receive little public traffic besides those living in the 130 or so houses in Oakridge and Dogwood.

“Yes. Political pressure. From the Legislature,” said MDOT Director Melinda McGrath when asked why the new road is being built. “We would not have done this otherwise.”

Normally, MDOT would build such a road only if its other construction had homes or businesses “landlocked” from a major roadway or a development was coming, in which case the developer and/or local government would foot much of the cost.

McGrath would not specify from whom the pressure is coming, other than “the Senate side.” McGrath said much of the communication from the Capitol to MDOT on the new road has been verbal. But MDOT communications records indicate staff in Reeves’ lieutenant governor’s office and his neighborhood’s property owners’ association have communicated with MDOT on the project.

And Reeves has been unapologetic about pushing for the larger Lakeland Drive widening, of which the new road from his neighborhood is the second and final phase.

Reeves through a spokeswoman declined an interview about the new road but issued a statement saying, “Reeves has not spoken to anyone at the agency regarding the Frontage Road and believes (the project) was negotiated between the city of Flowood and MDOT.”

But MDOT records indicate Reeves’ neighborhood property owners’ association, not the city of Flowood, has attempted to call the shots on how the new road is built.

In a list of early “demands” the neighborhood gave MDOT, it wanted the new road to have only one-way traffic from the neighborhood to Dogwood Boulevard. MDOT balked at building what would have essentially been a state-funded private driveway.

Flowood Mayor Gary Rhoads said he knows of no political pressure from Reeves for MDOT to build the new road, and the city supports it as a “safety issue.” He agreed with Reeves that the city was the impetus for building the road. He said any talk that Reeves pushed for it is “BS if I’ve ever heard it.”

But records indicate the Oakridge Property Owners’ Association at one point shot down the city of Flowood’s support for MDOT building a “J-turn,” which could have been a cheaper, roughly $200,000 alternative to the new $2 million road — at the existing Oakridge/Lakeland intersection.

In a letter to Rhoads in June 2017 urging the city to drop its support for a J-turn, the head of the Oakridge Property Owners’ Association gave Rhoads an update on the progress of frontage road negotiations, “Since you have not been privy to our communications with MDOT concerning the proposed frontage road ….”

McGrath said: “That frontage road is not being built because the mayor or city requested it. We do not feel any pressure to build it because the mayor would say so.”

MDOT records show much dickering between the Oakridge Property Owners’ Association and MDOT from 2016-2017 over the frontage road. The neighborhood voiced concerns over whether it would be reimbursed for easement property for the project (the neighborhood eventually agreed to donate it). MDOT paid other property owners along the stretch a total of $323,000, including $297,000 to the Hogg family trust.

Oakridge Property Owners' Association also haggled over what plants and trees MDOT would replace after construction, whether the road could be restricted to one-way traffic from the neighborhood to Dogwood Boulevard (it won’t be) and whether MDOT would promise to never close the existing Oakridge/Lakeland intersection or put in a J-turn (it would not).

At one point in negotiations an MDOT attorney in a letter to the head of the homeowners’ group wrote: “MDOT instructed me to point out that this project is for the benefit solely of the Oakridge homeowners and expeditious execution (of deeds and easements) would be appreciated.”

Lakeland intersection not a safety concern

The new road is ostensibly for safety — so those leaving the gated neighborhoods don’t have to navigate across a busy Lakeland Drive intersection when attempting to head west, particularly since Lakeland has been widened to six lanes.

But records indicate the intersection was relatively safe before the widening and has become safer since.

From December 2017 through May — the six months after Lakeland Drive was widened — there was only one crash, and it was not severe. It was a fender-bender involving a driver who was admittedly not paying attention and was not related to anyone turning at the intersection.

The existing intersection has scored low on MDOT engineers’ “severity index” before and after widening.

In fact, the Oakridge Property Owners’ Association in a letter to Flowood Mayor Gary Rhoads urging him to drop the idea for a J-turn said the existing intersection is safe and relatively easy to navigate.

“As someone who utilizes our existing median cross-over for westbound turns on a daily basis, I can tell you that traffic lights at Dogwood Festival Boulevard and further east at Luckney Road are timed such that we have ample opportunities to safely cross at the existing median cross-over,” Walter Brand, attorney and board president of the Oakridge Property Owners’ Association, wrote to Rhoads. “… We have used that cross-over for more than ten years (since the inception of our neighborhood) with relatively few safety problems.”

Brand did not return calls for comment.

The statement from Reeves’ office said: “The lieutenant governor suggested a red light years ago at the intersection due to a number of accidents that had occurred. MDOT evidently did not view that as a good option … He does support the Frontage Road as a safe alternative since the red light suggestion was not viewed by MDOT as a good option. He appreciates city leaders for many years of work on this entire project.”

Senate, Reeves pushed Lakeland to top of list

Reeves drew fire from House leaders in 2014 after Senate negotiators inserted the Lakeland Drive widening and other projects into MDOT’s budget bill in the 11th hour of heated negotiations.

House leaders noted the project was near where Reeves lives and killed the bill just before the deadline for its passage.

“I make no apologies for fighting to prioritize projects in our state,” Reeves said at the time. “Have you ever ridden down Highway 25? It is without question the project that needs funding more than any other, and for whatever reason the Department of Transportation has not made it a priority.”

The standoff left MDOT’s budget in limbo and lawmakers were forced to return to Jackson in special session to pass MDOT’s budget and other unfinished business.

House members in the special session refused to accept what they called the Senate’s “pet projects” in the MDOT bill, and it was passed without them.

But Reeves persisted.

MDOT communications records show his office sent the agency pointed questions about progress on the widening project, and “The Lt. Governor sent word that he was aggravated and wanted a definitive construction letting date,” said an email from an MDOT government affairs official that was circulated among other officials.

The need to widen Lakeland Drive from Mississippi 475 to Grants Ferry Road, a stretch that carries about 40,000 cars a day, was on MDOT’s radar — along with numerous roadways across the state with heavy traffic. But dozens of such projects have been on hold in recent years as MDOT focuses on repairing deteriorated roads and bridges. Records show the agency has 13 arteries across the state carrying 40,000 to 112,000 cars a day listed as needing “immediate” improvements because of traffic.

McGrath sent Reeves a letter on Aug. 4, 2014, explaining that because of budget restraints MDOT had been “forced to shift to a system preservation program” — focusing on repairing dangerously deteriorated roads and bridges more than new projects such as widening Lakeland Drive. She explained that tackling the Lakeland Drive project would require delaying $35 million worth of other projects slated for fiscal 2016.

Reeves apparently didn’t like the agency’s answers. In 2015, the Senate successfully added the widening project as an “earmark” to MDOT’s budget bill, over continued criticism from House leaders. The earmark effectively required the agency to spend millions in state and federal funds and make the project a priority, without allocating more money for it. (See an MDOT list of projects with immediate need at bottom of story.)

The recent statement from Reeves’ spokeswoman said: “The Lieutenant Governor thought MDOT was moving too slow on this critical project, so he worked with House and Senate appropriators to specify the funds in MDOT’s budget to jumpstart the project. It is now complete, and he is proud the Legislature did their job in getting this much needed project to completion.”

The drive from Reeves’ neighborhood to Dogwood Boulevard is the second and final phase of a project that will total about $45 million.

Reeves has shown a special interest in the project. He was on hand at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the expanded six-lane stretch of Lakeland and said: “Any commuter has seen the difference this finished project has made over the past few weeks, and I look forward to seeing more private investments and jobs in Rankin County as a result.”

MDOT not insulated from politics

Other than the work near his home, Reeves has been critical of MDOT and had a rocky relationship with the agency. This year, as the House and Senate sparred over road and bridge spending plans and failed to pass anything, Reeves proposed the “BRIDGE Act.” A key component of Reeves’ plan was to strip $125 million from MDOT over five years, and give the governor — an office Reeves hopes to win next year — control over much state road spending.

“The really galling thing is (the proposal) sets up two special funds to be utilized by the governor and prevent MDOT from buying right of way,” Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall said at the time. “That means whoever the next governor is will decide where the projects are built … It will be like Louisiana: The governor picks out his friends and political supporters and that’s where the roads get built … It’s a political answer to a very serious question, and I am really disappointed.”

MDOT is governed by a three-member elected commission, one each from northern, central and southern districts and the agency is run by a director appointed by the commission. This setup is in part to insulate road-building decisions from legislative and gubernatorial politics.

Hall, when first asked about the road from Reeves’ neighborhood, said he believed it was “strictly a safety deal” and no one from the lieutenant governor’s office — “no one in a political office” — had pressured or talked with MDOT about building it. He also said he didn’t recollect the larger Lakeland Drive project being pushed by Reeves or a legislative earmark.

He called back later that day and said, “I may have spoken too soon.”

“The lieutenant governor did not talk to me about (the new road), but the lieutenant governor’s office did talk to our staff about it, I am told, and they had also wanted that money spent on adding lanes to the highway,” Hall said. “… (Reeves’) office did stay in touch with our staff about the progress (of widening) and wanted the project moved up in priority.”

But Hall said he still believes the new frontage road is needed for safety.

Stop lights, J-turns would be cheaper

McGrath said that as Lakeland Drive was being widened, there was more “legislative pressure” for MDOT to put a traffic signal at the neighborhoods’ Lakeland Drive intersection to help those leaving the neighborhoods turn left onto the highway more easily. But MDOT engineers determined it would be too close to the light at Dogwood Boulevard and would create a traffic “bog” and safety issues.

McGrath said “there were then discussions that if we didn’t do a traffic signal there that there would be attempts made to force us legislatively to put a light there.”

MDOT offered to build a “J-turn” at the intersection. A J-turn design has drivers turn right in the same direction as traffic, then merge into the left lane to make a U-turn to avoid crossing traffic. There are other J turn intersections in similar areas along Lakeland. Building such a turn would have cost about $200,000, McGrath estimated.

This idea was rejected, and the new, $2-million frontage road project was born.

MDOT communications records from Feb. 1, 2016, from MDOT’s head of governmental affairs said, “The Lt. Governor (staff) has called to ask if we could provide a comprehensive update on:

“1. The progress of the Lakeland Drive construction project

“2. The latest ongoings on the access to the two gated neighborhoods, specifically related to signalization and the frontage road that has been discussed.”

MDOT responded by copying an engineer’s response that said completion of the widening is on schedule and provided details. It also responded that MDOT was in discussions with the city about the frontage road and would know more in a couple of weeks. MDOT plans to turn the road over to the city when it's complete.

A Reeves staffer emailed in response: “Never told you thank you for this, but thank you. Very helpful.”