Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi is constructing a new roundabout on South Lamar Boulevard as part of the infrastructure being added to its newly built facility.
Even though construction could cause minor delays in traffic, hospital administration said the construction is needed to relieve traffic congestion in the area and make the facility more accessible.
“As part of the project to improve access to the new hospital and reduce congestion at the intersection of Belk and South Lamar, Baptist is rebuilding the intersection,” said Bill Henning, hospital CEO and administrator. “The city of Oxford required that the new intersection be a roundabout.”
Henning said the four-phase project commenced March 19 and is expecting to be completed by Oct. 15.
Some Oxford residents think the roundabout construction will be an inconvenience and said they wish the construction would take place during the summer, when most students are out of town.
Oxford city engineer Bart Robinson said the construction will not cause any closure of South Lamar and traffic will still be allowed to travel around the area. Usually, when roundabouts are constructed, the area is closed off, allowing for the roundabout to be completed in a shorter amount of time.
“(The roundabout) cannot be completed under traffic in the summer months,” Robinson said. “By requiring traffic to be maintained through the construction site, it will take considerably longer to complete than some of the previous roundabouts.”
Though traffic will still flow through the roundabout while it is under construction, city of Oxford and hospital administrators acknowledged that the construction would cause minor delays and inconveniences and said “alternative routes should be considered” by drivers.
Junior communication sciences and disorders major Claire Sanford lives on South Lamar and said traffic is always an issue in the area, particularly around 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. She said she is happy about the construction of the roundabout but is not looking forward to the traffic delays the construction will cause.
“The construction happening on South Lamar will definitely affect my travel to and from campus each day,” Sanford said. “Once the construction work actually begins on the road, I’m sure that I will have to wake up and leave my apartment a little earlier than usual to make sure I have time to get to campus.”
She said she hopes once the roundabout is finished, it will help decrease the traffic backup.
The contract time for completing construction is 210 days.
