Community members, local elected officials, students, staff and board members of Copiah-Lincoln Community College gathered Thursday morning for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the proposed pedestrian corridor set for construction on the school’s Wesson campus.

“We are gathered here today to begin a process of building something we will all be proud to leave behind,” Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall said in beginning his speech Thursday.

Hall presented a $1 million check to Co-lin President Ronnie Nettles and Wesson Mayor Alton Shaw during the ceremony held in front of the Veteran’s Garden at Oswalt Library.

“What really convinced me that this project was one that really needed to be built was the support of the community for the project, personified by the mayor coming with President Nettles to my office to express to me the support of citizens of Wesson for it,” Hall said before presenting the check.

Funding for the corridor will be provided from a federal grant through the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternatives Program.

TAP was created to provide facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists and other non-motorized forms of transportation.

The proposed Co-lin corridor will run through the center of campus, connecting campus gateways to already established surrounding sidewalks created by the town of Wesson.

The corridor will provide access to campus health, fitness and recreational areas for students and citizens of Wesson alike.

“I believe, when completed, these facilities are going to encourage folks to use them that otherwise would not be walking or biking,” Hall said.

“And I believe these facilities will not only benefit the students, staff and faculty of the college, they will be used by the entire community,” he added.