Extra Mile Podcast: Transportation Commission Chairman Willie Simmons

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*INTRO MUSIC*

(Paul Katool) That’s nearly 2 billion and that's money that's going to be spent on improving safety, enhancing mobility and improving economic growth and development in the state of Mississippi.

(Will) Yeah. And with this historic funding from the legislature, new construction will be popping up all over Mississippi.

(Drew Hall) MDOT presents the Extra Mile Podcast.

(Brad White) Men and women of the Department of Transportation are up to the task and up to make sure that we deliver a product that the taxpayers can be proud of. So I'm ready for us to go to work.

(Paul) Welcome into another edition of the Extra Mile podcast legislative session presented by the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
I'm MDOT Deputy Director of Public Affairs Paul Katool, and as always, I'm joined by my co-host Will Craft. He is the Director of Public Affairs here at the agency. We've got a big show today. We have Transportation Commission Chairman Willie Simmons, also known as central district transportation commissioner.
Very glad to have him in the house today. Talk about a lot of different topics. Thank you so much for joining us, Commissioner.

(Willie Simmons) Paul and Will. I'm glad to be with you,

(Paul) Yes sir. Absolutely. So, the last time we had you on the show was December 2022. So, it's been a while. So, since then you were of course named chairman of the Transportation Commission.
So how has that been? Have you settled in kind of leading the way over there?

(Willie) December 1922, a long time ago.
It's been very exciting. And let me start by saying thanks to my colleagues for having the faith and confidence in me to put me in the position as the chairperson.
Hasn't really changed my salary. In any form or fashion, the income remains the same, but it has been exciting in that we've been invited to a lot of different places simply because we hold the position as chairperson. So, more invitations keep us a little busier but also makes us more excited about being able to get out into the public with the people, so it's exciting.

(Paul) There you go. You're doing a great job.

(Will) That's right. Nothing else. I was just high praise for keeping up with all the parliamentary procedure that Robert's running the meetings, man. I get confused sometimes on what the next step and second here and that. You keep it all straight. Pretty good.

(Willie) We have a good support team.
Amy is very, very good.

(Will) That's right. Well, we were just talking about before, before we came in here and got started recording a big day today, a lot going on not the least of which is a big press conference coming up. So, this will air today is Tuesday. This will come out tomorrow, Wednesday afternoon, the press conference will be fully wrapped, but just kind of walk us through some of what y'all, what y'all plan to talk about today.

(Willie) Well, I'm excited about the fact that we, the commissioners, have decided to come together and talk about it. What the real needs are for the Department of Transportation, the infrastructure system in the state, and to be on one accord, unified with a message to take to the public as well as to politicians, our legislators, the delegation, who fund the program and make sure that we get the money that we need.
So today we're going to be saying to the, in the form of a press conference, to the public that we need money. We need to recover money to make sure that we get all the things done that need to be done. We have gotten an investment from the feds in the way of the infrastructure bill that was passed a few years ago.
And then the additional money that the legislature gave us last year, 450 million capacity money. That is an investment that we have been able to make into the system and start us moving down the pathway of building new projects. But it's simply an investment. If we don't get recurring dollars, we're not going to be able to complete those projects.
Nor are we going to be able to get the feds, our partner, who has given us about 51 percent of our budget now, to be committed to us to do long term projects that we need to do in the state. So, it's an important day for us as commissioners to be able to
communicate that to our legislative delegation and say to them how much we appreciate what they have done in the past, but we need more.

(Will) That's right. And all kinds of different options on the table. I won't get into those too much. We'll be passing out the bullet points from the press commerce today. We can make those available online for our listeners out there. But lots of those talking points and messages. You guys had plans to sit down and meet with legislative leadership, I think, over the last couple weeks.
How have those conversations gone?

(Willie) Conversations went well. The legislators understand that we need more money. It's kind of haven't 26 years. I know what they're going through. With all of the competing factors that are out there, I won't get into other folks' business as to what's needed and how they're going to address it.
I'm just going to focus on what we need with the Department of Transportation. But those conversations have gone well with the legislators. They understand that what they have done is merely an investment. They understand that we need more money. We've been talking about When you look at capacity projects over the years, and we don't need this money next year, but over the years in the future, we're talking about about 9 billion worth of capacity projects.
That's a lot of money, and you need a recurring revenue stream that's going to come in, to get away from the old system that we have, which is just relying on the use tax at the pump, 18 cents, and we don't get the full 18 cents. We get about. I'm at 18 cents but it's not a percentage. So, we don't get any increase when the cost of gas goes up.
We just get in the steel amount, the same amount of 14 cents per gallon on an average coming to us. That's not going to take care of what we need for today. That was okay in 1987 to bill it. But if you remember, We didn't get any maintenance money when we got the 87 highway program passed. It was just money to build four lane highways.
So, now that we have all of these lane miles in the system, we have to maintain it. So, in addition to the 9 billion that we need for capacity projects, we need, on average, about 400 million a year. coming into the system to take care of our maintenance for our highways and bridges. That's a lot of money.
And when you're talking to your friends over at the capital, they understand the needs. But again, they have to play with How they're going to take and make all the sauces that they're trying to put together with all the needs that you have coming from the other agencies. So, we understand that.
But what we do need them to do this year is to commit to us, to giving us some recurring dollars. And those recurring dollars will come. We have advocated for what we call the Divergent Use Tax. And the Divergent Use Tax is a good system that was put in place in 2018 when I was still in the Senate.
When Governor Phil Bryant called a special session, the use tax formula that we put together was to give the counties 15 percent of the use tax, give the municipalities 15 percent and state aid 5 percent from 2020 until January 2014. The municipality has received about 352 million. Canada has received 352 million.
And state aid, 118 million. put us into that same formula and give us 15 percent, then you would see money start coming. It wouldn't be enough to take care of everything, but it would at least be a process, a start to move us in that direction. So that's the kind of thing we've been advocating to the legislative body and saying we would like to see us put into that system because of that divergent use tax, as you well know, you are buying more stuff online it continues to increase.
So that's one way that we could look at, it's the possibility of getting any money.

(Will) and, and, and one, you know, lots of good points and messages there. One thing I, I really take from it is that there are options out there for handling this recurred revenue issue without raising taxes.

(Willie) And that's the beauty of it.
If we can do it without raising taxes through the diversion, use tax. Some folks have talked about new forms of sports betting, getting some of that money. We also have electric and hybrid vehicles that's getting on the highway, getting money from that. So, there are ways to do it without hurting the average citizen who's pulling up to the pump.
Now, we may utilize that because it's a user fee, and I think it's a good system, but it's not the total answer that we need in order to make it work for us.

(Paul) Your message is loud and clear. We need recurring revenue to do big projects. And one that was previously funded is the Greenville bypass.
So, can you give us a little bit of a status update on that? I know there's going to be kind of a groundbreaking for the next part of that project.

(Willie) And that's a good example to show why we need money from the legislature. Although they gave us the 450 million capacity project, going way back 20 plus years before I became a commissioner, when I was in the Senate, the Department of Transportation was getting dollars in and they wanted to invest in the infrastructure.
So, they actually invested in the Highway 42 Highway 82 bypass in Greenville, bought the right of way, had bridges built on it, and had to abandon it because they didn't have money to take care of that project and other projects. So, when I became commissioner knowing that that was part of the 87 Highway Program, we went to work and we were very fortunate to get a grant from the federal government.
And the federal government gave us 72 million and then we put the rest on. So the total cost of that project is going to be over 200 million. That's why you need state dollars coming into the system. A lot of folks just think you can take a 20 percent match and send it up to Washington and then Washington will send you 80 percent of the project out.
It doesn't work that way. We have to build the project out and when the federal government is a part of it, we Then they would reimburse us for their share of it. So the 1982 Greenville Bypass, I'm excited about that next Monday the 15th. Tax Day. We're going to do a groundbreaking ceremony for the second phase and the second phase of that project will complete it.
Again, once the project is completed, done, be about a 200 million project. But we're excited about having been able to give a contract out and move to the second phase and we're hoping by the end of 2025. Christmas 2025 says we'll be able to ride on that highway. That's what the Department of Transportation is about.
Safety being able to build capacitive projects to move cargo and the citizens to and where they need to go. And that's where we have a great need for our partners, the legislative body and others to support giving us new revenue to do those kinds of projects.

(Will) And that is a great one. I mean, I know I've seen the bridges that were there built long ago, or the structures, I guess.
And it is fascinating to finally see that come to fruition, but what about any other projects going on that you want to highlight or, or talk about going on in the Central District?

(Willie) Well, you know, if we are able to get the capacity of the money, we have some projects that are very exciting to us, like Interstate 55 here in the Madison County area.
It needs to be widened with all of the growth Nissan, Amazon, Walmart, the chicken industry, and logging. We need to take care of the infrastructure system in that part of the state. So, that's one of the projects that's on there. Land, and it's one of the projects that would be included if we are able to get money in the form of capacity dollars to go forward.
Over in Rankin County on the Rankin County Parkway Highway 49 we completed that project. One of the best driving highways that I drive on, going to the coast, but we need to do more going further south. On that project. So, we're looking at those kinds of things. And then when it comes to paving Highway 27 Highway 49 Highway 18 bridges that we're having to replace in Rankin County, Madison County and here in Heinz County costing a lot of money.
But we are moving those projects and then interstate 20. The one that I've gotten more calls on, Will, and you probably took as many of those calls for me as I did, and thank you for handling it, and doing well. Okay? But that project is a paving project. And it has been a rough part of the interstate system, and we now have a contractor that's paving it, and we're also looking at the lighting on it from the stack all the way over to Highway 18, Robertson Road.
So, that’s going to be, excuse me, that's going to be a great project to complete, and we're also going to pay Interstate 20 from the Natchez Trace all the way to the Warren County line. Okay. So all you citizens who are driving Interstate 29, it's a little rough for you, give us a few more good sunny days.
and we got the eclipse passed on over us. If you had a chance to see it, but a few good sunshiny days and we're going to have payment going everywhere on interstate 20.

(Paul) I love it. Yeah, again the message is loud and clear. There's a lot of projects you just mentioned, so just need that recurring revenue.
So don't want to go on a downer topic, but we'll be a little bit litter. I know you're talking about getting phone calls. You know, we've probably gotten a lot. We've gotten a lot in public affairs. Can you kind of get the message out for us? Don't throw your trash on the roadways, right?

(Willie) Paul and Will, I'm going to start giving out your numbers for individuals to call as opposed to calling the commissioner's office.
Trash is a problem all over the state of Mississippi, but there seems to be even a greater problem here in the inner city around our interstate system because it's not just trash, but we have real garbage, and we have real live appliances and furniture’s falling off trucks or being thrown off trucks onto our interstate system.
I will say that we have been working locally with the county and the municipalities, Jackson, and we the commissioners have actually passed an agreement and entered into an agreement with the sheriff of Hinds County, Sheriff Jones, and the city of Jackson Mayor Lumumba and his chief, and they have an agreement where we're going to give them 50, 000 a year each to pick up trash off of our system, and hopefully that's going to help clean it up.
We're also working with the Department of Transportation. And they have what they call a hotspot program where if you see trash on interstate 20 and it's a lot of trash in that area and I'm not saying this so that citizen go out and put trash in that area and think we're gonna pick it up but we can call the Department of Correction and they would give us a hotspot team to go out and pick up trash in that particular area.
So with the sheriff, the police department, Jackson, and the hotspot with the Department of Correction, we're hoping that we're going to be able to take care of picking up trash a little bit better. And also, we're getting ready to start cutting grass now. And as you well know, in our contracts, when you mow the grass, we also have in it part of the contract is to pick up trash.
Right. So over the summer, if the citizens would be a little bit more cooperative and stop throwing out McDonalds and Burger Kings and Kentucky Fried and furniture onto our interstate system, we would have a really beautiful city in the way of our interstates. We have two groups who are now working with not just us, but in coordination with us to pick up trash.
On Lakeland Drive, there is a, the businesses on Lakeland Drive have committed to self, self-imposed tax, where they are paying into a fund. And hiring someone to pick up trash and cut the grass. I did not know that. On Lakeland. Awesome. Going from Interstate 55 all the way over to Pearl River. That's going to be very helpful to us.
We also have a volunteer who is soliciting funds to pick up trash from Lakeland going north to. Okay. So you'll see individuals out there now picking up trash and mowing and putting down a few little old decorative kinds of service where they can do some. So those kinds of volunteers along with the sheriff department, the city and the department of correction, we are hoping in 2024, you're going to see a much more beautiful City of Jackson.
That's awesome. And if we can do that here in Jackson, and get it all over the area, then hopefully we can use this kind of as a model to put in place in other parts of the state.

(Will) At the very least, a lot of effort, a lot of time and thought being put into it, trying to clean up. And I agree.

(Willie) I didn't know the Commission of Transportation was Would have so much to do with trash.
I thought I would just be building highways and taking care of bridges, trash and lighting which is safe. If we want to come to light, it is very important. And you may have seen some footage with the news about the lighting situation here in the Jackson area. We've had a problem with folks stealing copper but also.
We have some of our lights that's been out, and we now have our employees, staff, who are going on to the interstate system and repairing those lights that we can repair. And a bigger program that we're looking at, we have an engineer who's actually doing a full-blown study. Of the entire system to see if we can get a better lighting system in place.

(Will) Yeah, it's a unique challenge when you have to figure out how to stop the theft. You know, we want to keep the lights on just as much as anybody, but when the wires keep getting taken, it's kind of hard, you know. So yeah, I'll be glad to see that come to fruition too.

(Willie) We do not want you taking on a law enforcement job and going out and following individuals who you see throwing trash out and making a citizen arrest.
Don't do that. Just call the law enforcement and see if we can't make their work.

(Paul) Excellent point. Yeah. Hey, there's some things going on. But like, like you said, lots of lots of effort to rectify litter and some of the lighting situations. Very, very good.

(Will) And parlaying right off what you just mentioned you know, talking about working on some of the lights being out there.
It's a bit dangerous for our folks to be out there working on that on a high-speed interstate. So, you know, heads up, look out for our workers, which again parlays us right on into Work Zone Awareness Week coming up next week. We'll have a ceremony on Tuesday honoring those that have unfortunately lost their lives working on the highways and doing work here for the Mississippi transportation department.
But talk a little bit about that. Being careful, being safe in work zones.

(Willie) When I was in the Senate, we did two things that we were trying to do. One was a detracting or individual getting on the telephone and talking. And it's dangerous any way you do it. But it's extremely dangerous when you're going through a work zone because We have employees who are out working and contractors who are out working and you're on your telephone you're not paying attention and you don't see a worker or a flagman and We've had too many folks that's been killed in accidents as a result of that.
In addition to that we Try to get past the blue light lump where we would have when we have a construction job going on. There would be a blue light in the area because all of us tend to respect the blue light when a blue light hits us. We tend to slow down. So we want to put a blue light into the work zone to help slow the traffic down.
We encourage citizens to be aware of what you're doing when you're driving and not be distracted with other kinds of things that's going on in your vehicle that will put you in a situation where you don't see our employees. In addition to that, When you're driving through a workforce, a work zone, do respect the speed limit because those workers are out there trying to make sure that they have a good, safe highway in place for us, but also they want to be safe and go back home, everything.
So to create a problem by running into someone is unnecessary when you can slow down and get where you're going basically at the same time. That's right. Just take your time and get through it and be patient with us. You want new highways and in order to do that we have to put safety controls in place.
Traffic control to make sure that our workers are safe, but also we can do the work. So be patient with us as you go through those work zones. You heard us talk about all the money that we are spending on various projects, whether it be interstate 20, 18, 55. Slow down when you're driving through those areas.
Please do that.

(Paul) Oh, yeah, there's some great messages. Just think of it this way. Just imagine that's one of your family members out there. Put the phone down and you know, that can wait for sure.

(Will) I was just going to mention that too. I've heard our engineers say this before, you know, sometimes folks will come through a work zone and there's nobody out there and they think, well, I don't need to slow down if I don't see anybody working and that unfortunately or fortunately is not always true, you know, just because there's not folks out there.
The configuration of that roadway, the geometry that, you know, what normally is a straightaway might be now a curve or an S bend, you know, just because there's not people out there working does not mean you shouldn't still slow down and adhere to those rules. And on a selfish note, I hope whoever drives the Honda Accord, white Honda Accord in downtown Jackson listens to this because I almost got run over, somebody ran a red light yesterday.
Whoa. Ran me up into the bushes. But yeah, phone down, eyes up. Be safe in the work zones out there.

(Willie) And you make a good point because we do have to shift the traffic and shift the lanes when we are working, so do slow down and respect the work zone. We, again, the number you'll see when we do the program next week.
But then I'm just too, too, too high for the number of accidents and the number of fatalities that we had.

(Paul) Will said it best, phone down, eyes up, so you want to take us home.

(Will) Yeah man, you know, lots of good stuff there, but we'll always like to tie things up with a fun question here for you.
And you know, we've had you on the show before, we've talked about places to eat. It's been a little while, but what are the odds, maybe chance, you've been somewhere new lately?

(Willie) You know, up in the district, they have a couple of new places. And I'm embarrassed. I can't remember the name, but the food was good.

(Paul) Hey, that's the important part. As long as you remember the food was good. Are you talking Eudora's?

(Willie) Eudora's. There we go. That is it. So, you've been there.

(Paul) I haven't been there, but a lot of friends, they have, I've heard they have a good happy hour. Let's, let's put it that way.

(Willie) Well, you know, I was there for the food.

(Will) That's fair. That's fair. Now, where is this place?

(Willie) The food was good. It's in the district. Okay. I don't even know what the hours were. I was there right around five o'clock hour. Okay. For an early dinner and enjoyed it. So.

(Paul) Yes. It's kind of like southern fine dining, I believe. Good spot. Yeah.
Right next to all the development over there. Okay. Check it out. Put it on the list. Another date night. That's right. That's right.

(Willie) That's part of the area that I was telling you about earlier where the individual volunteers pick trash up. Okay. So, they're keeping it clean and they're keeping it grass cut and manicured.
So, you'll be able to go into your doors and enjoy the district and see a clean area of interstate 55 and fund this reward because of the work of those volunteers. We want to thank them for participating in that process.

(Will) Yeah, and please stay safe out there guys.

(Paul) No doubt. Hey, you heard if you listen to the show, you know, there is a lot of effort going on by the Chairman, Transportation Commissioners, everybody with MDOT.
Commissioner, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for stopping by.

(Willie) Paul, it's always a pleasure, and Will, I hope you all get up to Greenville next week, on the 15th for the groundbreaking ceremony. We're going to have a great opportunity. Congressman Thompson has agreed to come and be with us.
As well as the Deputy Director for the Department of Transportation. Because this is a great event for me as Commissioner to be able to see the second phase of that project. One we had to put off. It's been 20 years, and we are now about to complete it. So that's progress.

(Paul) That's awesome. Exciting stuff.
Thanks again for joining us. We will go ahead and wrap things there. Thank you to our listeners or viewers for tuning into the extra mile podcast. You can watch and listen to episodes by visiting GoMDOT.com/TheExtraMile, follow us on social media @MississippiDOT is the handle. We want to thank our producer, our editor, Drew Hall for holding things down behind the scenes.
Remember to drive smart out there on Mississippi highways.

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