Burnt House Road widening expected in months
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Strips of land along Burnt House Road will be eyed in the coming months for widening the narrow, unpaved south Warren County road.
As with a similar effort to upgrade Fonsylvania Road to handle traffic loads for future development, property owners will likely be asked to donate narrow strips of land for public right of way, District 4 Supervisor Bill Lauderdale said.
“We’ll try to do as much as we can by this winter,” Lauderdale said. “Little slivers (of land) alongside the road, curves that kind of stuff. There’s some widening and straightening before we ever think about paving it.”
Burnt House Road is paved only on its southernmost mile near its intersection with Redbone Road, with about three miles leading to Grange Hall Road graveled. Sections of the unpaved portion appear as Old Telegraph Road on old tax map drawings. Surveys completed in recent years by county engineers estimated its vehicular traffic between 100 and 150 per day at the busiest point. About 30 residences dot the roadway, with several acres of agricultural land in between.
Work to acquire land on Fonsylvania, several miles east of Burnt House, remains active but has slowed while titles to properties owned by litanies of heirs are cleared — a process that can take years.
Traffic on Burnt House may increase due to another project. A small bridge on Redbone Road at the Vicksburg city limits is to be replaced early next year. Rights of way have been secured near the bridge and a construction bid is expected to be advertised by year’s end, Lauderdale said.
When under way, that project will detour some traffic to Burnt House and Jeff Davis roads to reach U.S. 61 South.
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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com