The completion of the Highway 84 four-laning project fromBrookhaven to the county line is near, officials said, but a lot ofwork remains in Lawrence County projects.

Officials expect the stretch of Highway 84 from Brookhaven tothe Lincoln and Lawrence county line will be completed by Nov. 1,said Darrell Broome, project engineer for the MississippiDepartment of Transportation.

Broome is also pleased with the progress on three other Highway84 projects underway in Lawrence County.

An eight-mile stretch of roadway from the Lincoln and Lawrencecounty line to Old Highway 27 should be completed by May 2004, hesaid. Following the grading and drainage project, however, is apaving project that must be completed before the highway can beopened.

Approximately 1.5 miles of earthwork remains, Broome said, butwork on the bridge and Highway 84 and Highway 27 interchange isalready underway.

“The bridge itself is complete, except for the rails,” he said.”They’re working on the approach and ramps now.”

The second project extends the Highway 84 bypass from thatpoint, across the Pearl River, to connect with the existing highwayeast of Monticello. The current project calls for the road gradingand the bridge construction with the paving contract to follow.

“They have a majority of the drainage work complete,” Broomesaid. “They’re doing the grading and grass work now. It will benext year before they can begin the paving.”

The Pearl River Bridge is about 40 percent complete, he said,and the project is expected to meet its scheduled completion dateof September 2005.

“The bridges on the bypasses are a pretty big job bythemselves,” he said.

The third project is completing the four-laning on Highway 84 byconnecting Silver Creek to the Lawrence and Jefferson Davis countyline.

Work on this grading, drainage and bridging project has onlybegun recently, Broome said.

“The clearing project is near completion,” he said.

Once the proposed roadway in completed, the grading and drainagework can begin, he said.

The project is expected to be completed in September 2004.

“It’s a long project, but I think people will be pleased withwhat we’ve done when it’s completed,” Broome said.

Broome said the scheduling calls for them to finish their workin Lawrence County by fall of 2006.