Warren County’s list of projects for federal stimulus funding is down to two, but both must wait for funding tied specifically to counties.

Resurfacing Bovina Cutoff Road between Warriors Trail and Silver Creek Drive and replacing two bridges on Fisher Ferry Road at the Big Black River remain in play because they can be put out to bid in six months, County Engineer John McKee said.

A first round of projects OK’d by the Mississippi Department of Transportation earlier this month, including welcome centers on interstates and other state roads, totals more than $235 million. A $12.5 million allocation to the Office of State Aid Road Construction covers 12 projects across the state that are specific to local roads, though none are in Warren County. Overall, Mississippi is in line for about $2.8 billion from the stimulus bill signed by President Obama in February.

“If they get more money, we’ll have two projects ready to go,” McKee told supervisors.

The two projects have awaited funding for years and will cost more than $2 million.

Municipalities await word on applications for funding of various projects, which includes $947,635 for segments of Clay Street, Indiana Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue in Vicksburg. Those funds will be distributed by planning and development districts statewide.

Explanations by 33 states and the District of Columbia of how money from the $787 billion package is to be spent have been linked on the White House’s stimulus-tracking Web site, www.recovery.gov.  Mississippi is among the 17 states which have yet to create a recovery page, as of Thursday.

Early estimates for Mississippi’s share of funding from the federal stimulus package remain soft but indicate more money will go to cities than counties.

About $350 million in transportation projects will flow through the Mississippi Department of Transportation to municipalities, Mississippi Municipal League government affairs coordinator Quincy Mukoro said Thursday.

Five additional Warren County roads scheduled for resurfacing and installation of raised reflectors will depend on how some residents respond to guidelines governing obstructions, mainly residential mailboxes, on county rights of way.

Sixteen mailboxes have been identified by MDOT’s state aid division as being on rights of way, creating an obstacle for improvements. About $300,000 in state aid funding would flow to the roads, which include sections of Fisher Ferry, Oak Ridge, Freetown and Tiffentown roads, and Warriors Trail. Seven of the boxes are on Oak Ridge Road alone.

“It’s a maintenance and line of sight situation,” said Board President Richard George.

Resolution of the issue will enable those roads to be programmed immediately for state aid funding, McKee said. District 1 Supervisor David McDonald said he planned to broach the topic to homeowners in Openwood Plantation, nearest to the highest concentration of identified mailboxes.

As for long-term solutions to obstacles in county rights of way, the board agreed verbally to direct permitting officials to be more specific when issuing development permits.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com.