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Laurel, Miss. (WDAM) – Business owners on 16th Street in Laurel are meeting tonight to discuss how the Mississippi Department of Transportation could affect businesses.
Many business owners think they should close because of this opportunity.
“We have business owners who have businesses on 16th Avenue and their businesses on Highway 49 have reported a 40 percent drop in revenue and customers,” said Ron Swindall, a spokesman for the 16th Avenue Committee. Inside, that’s destructive to businesses.”
The growing threat has led business owners to start petitions, talk to local authorities and even seek legal advice.
However, a possible plan by MDOT is to implement crosswalks to help drivers get around safely. Swindall added,
“It’s harder to get through because there are barriers between turns, and it’s easier to go down some of the back roads where there are residences than it is to go down and turn around where MDOT has designed to turn around,” Swindall said.
MDOT held a public meeting for citizens to voice their thoughts and concerns. However, many businesses want MDOT to go back to the drawing board.
In fact, Swindal says so.
“The project should be completely abandoned in its current state, and MDOT, instead of spending millions of dollars on a project we don’t want, millions of dollars in debt that we don’t need to spend on this issue. They should be studying whether to spend $100,000 on the project or what else to do,” Swindell said.
Although the project will affect businesses along 16th Street, many business owners feel the need to get involved in the fight to prevent the project from happening.
“My business is not on 16th Street, it’s downtown Laurel, but when a business owner is affected, that’s why we all come together as a team and join hands and show our support,” said Marian Allen, director of the Laurel-Jones County Museum of Black History and the Arts.
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