HATTIESBURG, Miss. ( WHLT ) – Hattiesburg leaders are working to make improvements to two major roadways.

On Tuesday, the City Council votes to approve a collaborative conceptual study to improve North Main Street around W.S.F. Tatum Boulevard and Bonhomie Road. The study will gather input to draw up a plan for how to redesign the roadways, as well as how to secure funding.

Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker said the city has received complaints from drivers about traffic flow in both locations due to the growing population and sporting events at Tatum Park, which has also caused traffic concerns at Presbyterian Christian School (PCS).

“We want to engage the neighborhood more to facilitate a conversation about what they want the future of North Main to look like, whether that’s a protected bike lane, bike lanes as it is now, our multi-use path, and do a landscaped median that slows traffic down. PCS has a real traffic issue when people are doing drop-off at the elementary school and at the high school, when they’re trying to access athletic events. And so, this would look at adding a turn lane at both the elementary school and the high school on Bonhomie and W.S.F. Tatum,” said Barker. “But while we’re in there, we thought it would be good to go ahead and address the need for a new entrance in the North side of Tatum Park. Tatum Park is by far our sports tourism capital. We had 197 soccer teams over there this year. One of the biggest soccer tournaments ever in the state. But creating traffic flow is often an issue, and so, we’ll look at what it might cost to add a north entrance there. We’ll also look at the roadways inside Tatum Park and the parking lots.”

The mayor hopes to be able to present a plan in the next six months.

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