That two of the nine agenda items at Monday’s Batesville Planning Commission meeting involved automotive businesses seeking clearance to establish themselves on Highway 6 West underscores that corridor’s continued rapid development.

Danny Holland plans to build a classic car dealership on his property where the old compress building once stood. Ray Slaughter and Michael Purdy are planning to build an auto sales business further west where a burned out garage building sat for many months before its recent demolition.

These follow completion last year of Pride Hyandai’s expansion at its new car dealership on the south side of the highway, and earlier this year the Heafner family announced plans to build a new facility to house the Hallmark Ford dealership next door to their landmark GM/Chrysler dealership on the north side of Highway 6.

This recently completed and planned development means that entrepreneurs anticipate Batesville’s continued growth as a regional economic engine. Their expansions will further fuel that growth and add to the traffic that already crowds the narrow, two lane Highway 6 route from Bates Street west.

That means traffic in addition to the cars and trucks that the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) has already projected as it has calculated a timetable funding for the projects that will widen the existing two lanes to five lanes from Bates Street to the west city limits and to replace the railway overpass.

Simply put, if the project was completed tomorrow it would not be soon enough. The Highway 6 corridor from Bates Street west is narrow, dangerous, frustrating and congested. Our state representatives and senator need to push for the funding that will make the Highway 6 widening and overpass replacement a higher priority than we’ve yet seen.  

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The crowd who attended the retirement reception Wednesday for Batesville City Clerk Laura Herron overflowed the City Hall meeting room for good reason. Herron is well-liked and her work for the city has earned high regard from elected officials, fellow city workers and from members of the public who follow the city’s business.

The City Clerk is the most important person sitting at the table when the mayor and aldermen meet. We tend to forget that when the city’s business flows smoothly. Herron’s quiet, under-the-radar style kept her out of the limelight and that was her preference.

We wish her well in her retirement and her replacement success in this important position.