By Rupert Howell

 City officials were recently given three concepts to consider that address traffic entering, exiting and turning on the Batesville Square where it converges with Eureka Street.

Mendrop-Wages Engineering firm presented the concepts which included a boulevard type realignment on Eureka Street, a one-way concept around the Square with a three-sided island at Eureka and the Square, and a roundabout.

All concepts would take at least a portion of the area currently occupied by the service station that formerly housed Panola County Food Pantry.

The one-way concept would put traffic in a one-way pattern that would make all traffic headed to Panola from Thomas, Lomax or Eureka, having to make the entire Square around by the courthouse with a series of left turns before entering Panola.

 The roundabout concept would take a large number of parking spaces on the portion of the square nearest the Eureka Building, and have traffic circling there before choosing the desired direction.

The boulevard concept would be closer to the existing traffic pattern and realign traffic patterns taking away extreme curves in turn lanes and adding a boulevard or median on a portion of Eureka.
Engineer Blake Mendrop emphasized that concepts were just that, concepts with nothing set in stone.

The city is considering the purchase of the old service station building, of which a portion would be needed, for each of the concepts. City leaders have also discussed remodeling a portion of the building.