HATTIESBURG, Miss. ( WHLT ) – The City of Hattiesburg asked neighbors to share their input on how to improve road safety. A series of meetings are being held to survey residents about their transportation concerns in the city. It’s part of the Safe Roads Hattiesburg Initiative.

On Tuesday, Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker spoke with students at William Carey about their concerns.

“We’re trying to really get into underrepresented groups, which are college students. While there are a lot of them here, we don’t always get their input when it comes to city decisions,” said Barker.

Students were given surveys to rank which problems they believe need to be addressed.

The initiative was made possible by a grant from the Department of Transportation. Leaders will use feedback to make an action plan to decide how to use the grant money.

“We’ve had 55 people die on our roadways over the last five years. And so, anything we can do in terms of design and policy that can help lower that number we want to do,” Barker stated.

The survey allows residents to rank what they believe are some of Hattiesburg’s problem areas when it comes to road safety, spanning from infrastructure and design, lighting, speeding and distracted driving.

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Daily News

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV.