Development, redevelopment and revitalization are trends that appear to be paths to a renaissance of growth taking shape in Jackson. Residents have and are witnessing structural changes in Downtown, Mid-Town, the Medical Mall District, the University Park area, etc. Now, they can look toward the future for the “transformation” of “a more vibrant, thriving” Highway 80 corridor, according to Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.
Tuesday night, Nov. 9, in a community forum, the Mayor and a team of professional strategists presented the completion of Phase I – The Strategy Plan – of the Highway 80 Economic Development Strategy. The forum was the fourth and final one presented to the citizens to solicit their input and to share with the developmental stages of the plan.
“This is a very exciting project,” Johnson said as he made opening remarks. “It has the ability and potential to completely transform the Highway 80 corridor and West Jackson. We’re very appreciative to this team of professionals who have lent their skills and knowledge to this project. We’re appreciative of the Economic Development Administration Department of Commerce that made this effort possible through a grant to the City of Jackson. We also appreciate very much the input from the community. Sometimes our planners are accused of being out of touch with our community. We wanted to make sure we had community input.”
The boundaries for the Highway 80 corridor improvements include: the Pearl River to the east and the Corporate limits of Clinton to the west with a width of the immediate frontage road areas. Sub-areas include Central Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson State University, JSU E-Center and MetroStation Shopping Center.
Based on the community forums held, the majority of the citizens told the strategy team that there is a need for children/teen entertainment, a grocery store and pharmacy, national retailers, and new parks, greenways and bike trails.
Longtime West Jackson resident Deborah Hardy is pleased with the plan. She said she had been hearing about the revitalizations downtown and in other areas but nothing about West Jackson. “I’m very excited about [the Highway 80 project],” Hardy said. “I think the plans that they have are outstanding. They offer a whole lot, and they did it with the community in mind. The designs are family oriented. We need shopping centers; we need grocery stores; we need more visibility of the police officers; we need recreation and entertainment for our young people. I think it is a very comprehensive plan. It’s obvious that they put a lot of thought and research into it.”
The plan’s future land use and zoning recommendations include: residential, including multi-family housing; commercial; industrial and mixed-use property of residential and commercial. The concept plans are as follows: Showtown West Neighborhood Retail; Metrocenter Mall Reuse; Metrocenter South; Southport Mall Entertainment Center; Highland Drive Office Park; Former Coca-Cola Bottling Plant
Transportantion Plan includes: a Jackson West Parkway, Greenway Parkway, Metrocenter South Parkway, “Little J” Multipurpose Trail, Lynch Creek Greenway and Landscaped Medians. Public facilities will include a police substation or precinct, Battlefield Park Improvements, greenways and bike trails.
Gray Ouzts, project manager for the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District (CMPDD), said, “‘Go80’ is our slogan to encourage people to come to Highway 80 to go eat, to go shop, to go work, to go play. So, it’s ‘Go80.’”
CMPDD was contracted by the city to develop the strategy. It is local government assistance for the cities and counties in Central Mississippi. It in turn solicited the services of a team of strategists to help develop the plan and that team included the services of JBHM Architects, SOL Engineering Services and Quicksilver Creative (which helped with the marketing component). Ouzts said the marketing plan will include a video and brochures that can be passed out to potential developers to assist and attract them.
Mayor Johnson said it is hard to pinpoint a time frame for the overall Highway 80 improvement project to become a visible reality. “However, some of the things that were listed here tonight will not require resources, like amendment of zoning ordinances,” he said. “Like all plans, this is a road map of how we should proceed and how we should move forward. And there is no time frame right now being placed on implementation.”
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