Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony for phase 2 of the U.S. Highway 82 bypass project marked a major moment for infrastructure in the Mississippi Delta.

GREENVILLE - A major milestone for a long-awaited project today as local, state and federal officials poured into Washington County to mark significant progress on the Greenville Bypass.

A project nearly 17 years in the making before construction resumed in 2022, could now be complete by the fall of 2025.

Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony for phase 2 of the U.S. Highway 82 bypass project marked a major moment for infrastructure in the Mississippi Delta.

As Central District transportation commissioner Willie Simmons points out, it’s due in large part to the power of teamwork.

“It's been great collaboration, togetherness and working together, starting with the congressman who I made the first phone call to when we had an opportunity to apply for the grant and he was very supportive,” the commissioner told the Delta News.

That support led to a series of grants amounting to $142 million dollars for the first phase of the project which Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) says was easy to support with all of the building blocks in place.

“And as you know, communities grow and prosper when you have good modes of transportation,” Thompson pointed out.

“That means that this community is going to be in a position to grow economically. It's going to have better and safer traffic coming around it with all of the 18 wheelers and the additional traffic. But it also in the future attracts industry and more things come into the port city of Greenville,” highlighted Simmons.

Phase 2 of the bypass which runs from State Route 1 to the Mississippi River Bridge will stabilize the path so paving can begin for the final seven miles of the project.

Thompson added, “This is the last mode of transportation that Greenville really needs to take off. So, I’m excited about it.”

That excitement is shared by state legislators, members of the Washington County Board of Supervisors, Greenville City Council and many more as they believe the U.S. Highway 82 bypass project will contribute mightily to the overall growth of the Mississippi Delta.