6/11/2009 5:03:00 AM Monument cell tower to be moved
By LACEY MCLAUGHLIN Staff Reporter
RIDGELAND - The cell phone tower that is a miniature replica of the Washington Monument will have to make way for planned frontage roads along Interstate-55.
The replica monument that serves as a cell phone tower will have to be moved with officials requesting the construction of a temporary cell phone tower to ensure cell phone reception.
The issue is expected to be discussed during the city's next planning and zoning meeting on June 18.
Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) officials are moving forward with plans to construct frontage roads on both sides of I-55 from Old Agency Road in Ridgeland to Madison Avenue in Madison.
The current cell phone tower, owned by H.C. Bailey Companies, is located within the project's right-of-way on the west side of I-55 near Highland Colony Parkway.
H.C. Bailey Co. president H.C. "Buster" Bailey said that the tower will only be moved 400 to 500 feet from where it is now.
If the board approves the plan, a temporary cell tower will be constructed a few hundred feet north of the existing structure.
City Planner Matt Dodd said the temporary structure is needed to ensure that cell phone reception is not interrupted in the area.
"The temporary tower will be in place while they move and assemble the permanent structure," Dodd said.
Bailey said that the cell tower was originally constructed to be in design with the concept of Colony Park, the mixed used development located along Highland Colony Parkway.
Construction on the frontage roads is expected to begin sometime next year.
The $80 million project will tie into the new Madison-Ridgeland "split diamond" interchange to be built at Madison Avenue.
