Construction equipment is seen overlooking Old Taylor Road and South Lamar Boulevard in Oxford, Miss., Nov. 12, 2014. PHOTO BY: ZOE MCDONALD
A new roadway, Belk Boulevard, off Old Taylor Road, began construction due to the planning of the new hospital and heavy traffic and is set for completion by the end of year.
The construction of Belk Boulevard started in July of 2013. Though the final stages of construction are nearing, the final asphalt on Belk will not be installed until after the new hospital is completed in 2017. Once the new hospital opens, the intersection of Belk and South Lamar will be reconstructed as a roundabout with Belk Boulevard on the east side being realigned to the east side of the new roundabout, Board of Alderman city engineers said.
According to the site plan, which was approved in June 2013, Baptist Memorial Hospital is proposing to construct a 680,000 square foot/217-bed, 6-story replacement hospital, which will occupy approximately 21 acres of the site.
The site plan includes the construction of a four-lane extension of Belk Boulevard. This road will provide the needed connection from South Lamar to Old Taylor Road.
According to Assistant City Engineer, Reanna Mayoral, once the new Hospital is completed, the existing Belk Boulevard will shift through part of the current Baptist Memorial parking lot, so that it lines up with the “new” Belk Boulevard. Then it will all be one connected roadway instead of being offset like it is right now.
Presently, there is only one public road, Nicole Lane, that connects to Belk Boulevard.
Baptist Hospital will have three connections, which will be private streets or drives to serve the hospital.
The approved site plan for Baptist Memorial Hospital states that a public right of way for a north/south connection road from Belk Boulevard to Country Road 300 will be dedicated by Baptist Hospital for additional circulation as needed in the future.
Steve Brigance, senior civil professional engineer and project manager of A2H, the engineering firm responsible for the design and construction of the road, said that once Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford had selected a site for the hospital, the City of Oxford’s Engineering Department and Planning Department worked with Baptist Memorial Hospital and A2H to determine the general alignment and connection points of the new road.
“The options for this alignment had been planned by Oxford in the Major Thoroughfare Plan,” Brigance said. “This plan was developed as part of the Comprehensive Master Plan prepared in 2004.”
Soon after the Major Thoroughfare Plan, A2H prepared construction documents that were reviewed and approved by Oxford’s City Engineer, Brigance said. Lafayette County’s Engineer and the plans were also approved publicly at the Oxford Planning Commission and the Lafayette County Planning Commission.
The cost to construct Belk Boulevard and the widening of Old Taylor Road is $7.5 million.
Baptist Hospital is paying for all road construction improvements associated with the new hospital, according to Pat Harcourt, senior vice president of A2H. The construction of the Old Taylor Road Bridge and two roundabouts was a Mississippi Department of Transportation project paid by Mississippi Department of Transportation. Baptist Hospital is paying for the widening of Old Taylor from the roundabout to Belk Boulevard, Brignace said.
Chief Executive Officer of Baptist Memorial Hospital Bill Henning said that A2H engineering firm has prepared the site planning and engineering for several hospitals and facilities developed by Baptist Memorial Healthcare, including Baptist Memorial Hospital in DeSoto County, Mississippi, and Baptist Memorial Hospital in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
“Belk Boulevard will benefit the Oxford community by making the needed connections for the community as determined in the Major Thoroughfare Plan and comprehensive master plan and by providing the community with safe and efficient access to the hospital,” Andy Reynolds landscape architect of A2H engineering said.
By connecting to Old Taylor Road, hospital users will now have two routes to reach the hospital (off of Old Taylor and South Lamar), and this new road also provides a much-needed direct connection between Old Taylor Road and South Lamar Boulevard, Mayoral said.
Also, by connecting to the existing Belk Boulevard in the future, users will have a direct route between Highway 7 and Old Taylor Road. Mayoral said that this road also provides an alternate route for users of Old Taylor Road in the event of an emergency.
Belk Boulevard meets one of the city’s guiding ideologies established in the 2020 Vision Plan of providing a compact connected roadway network that equally serves automobiles, pedestrians, bicycles and future prospects of transit, according to the Board of Alderman.
“Belk Boulevard has already benefitted the community, as shown by how well-used it has become in such a short time, and it also increases convenience for many users and reduces congestion at the Old Taylor Road and South Lamar exits on Highway 6,” Mayoral said. “Any time you can provide users multiple routes and means to get from A to B, you have improved the transportation network and benefited its users.”
