In May 2022, the Mississippi Department of Transportation announced plans to ease traffic issues at Exit 40 in Brookhaven with the addition of roundabouts.

The traffic circles will be placed on Brookway Boulevard, one constructed on each side of Interstate 55.

This is not a City of Brookhaven project, but a state transportation project.

Approximately 23,000 to 24,000 vehicles enter or exit the interstate at Exit 40, or travel along the boulevard through that area on a daily basis. The traffic counts match closely to the number of vehicles traveling along I-55 through the city.

City Engineer Mike McKenzie, of WGK Engineering, said the planning and development stage of the project will take approximately one and a half years. Construction is expected to begin in January 2025.

“MDOT asked us could we stand to close all the lanes under I-55 during construction,” McKenzie said at the recent Brookhaven Board of Aldermen meeting. “We didn’t think that would be such a good idea.”

Closing all the lanes under I-55 would require all traffic to be rerouted, preventing residents, workers and shoppers from easily accessing the opposite side of the interstate. Instead, MDOT will close only one or two lanes at a time, allowing traffic to continue to flow under the interstate, though at a more cautionary pace.

Not closing all the lanes at once could extend the overall construction phase of the project from an estimated six months up to 18 months, McKenzie said, but it would be “absolute lunacy” to sever the throughway for half of a year.

When more than one alderman said in 2022 that they were wary that roundabouts will cause further or new problems in traffic flow, McKenzie said the design will alleviate those concerns. Rather than a small radius and tight turns, such as at the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, these traffic circles will be larger and easier to navigate.

“From an engineering perspective, you’ll be fine,” he said. “They just have to be big.”

 

Mississippi Rep. Becky Currie, a Brookhaven resident, does not like the idea.

“I have to drive the ones in Jackson/Ridgeland and they are awful. Nobody knows how to drive in them, including me,” Currie wrote in a Facebook post. “I don’t see big trunks and cars being able to maneuver this well from the interstate to the Blvd. I have tried to speak to MDOT several times and our Highway Commissioner. The people of Summit had town hall meetings to fight theirs being built. I need to know what you guys want. Most people I have spoken with are against it but want to hear opinions.”

Concerns or notes of support can be sent via email to cbusby@mdot.ms.gov.

“They don’t live here we do. They won’t be able to say we didn’t try. I agree they need to do something to our exit but I am worried too many will not come into our great city trying to avoid a roundabout,” Currie said.