With summer approaching, the City of Batesville should take the initiative for improving the appearance of the city’s Interstate 55 entrance. Last summer city officials chafed while grass overgrew the 60 or so acres contained in the sprawling cloverleaf and the roadside curbing.
Already the city has placed attractive light fixtures along the Highway 6 corridor as it passes under I-55. Last year during the holiday season the city and TVEPA placed attractive banners on the poles, welcoming Polar Express visitors and other travelers along that route.
City leaders have talked about paying for extra mowing at the interchange to supplement the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s sparse mowing schedule.
That’s not enough. If city leaders really want an attractive entrance to Batesville, they need to own the problem by adopting that entire intersection and then manicure it to the fullest extent that MDOT’s regulations and practical economic considerations will allow.
Forget about MDOT increasing their maintenance. You see what happened in the Legislature in the session just ended. MDOT can’t even get money from the legislature to keep our crumbling highways from further deterioration.
The city needs to dip into the funds generated by its tourism tax and go to work — not just to keep the grass mowed but to make that intersection look so good that it will convey a favorable first impression to visitors and make Panola County proud every time we ride through it. (While we’re at it we might enlist the assistance of surrounding retailers and fast food restaurants to pick up the trash that originates with their establishments and blows against the surrounding right-of-way fencing.)
That’s our challenge to city officials. Own the problem  so that we will all be proud of the appearance of this heavily traveled corridor that is the front door to Batesville.