It’s no secret that there is a good amount of development going on North Lamar Boulevard, and city leaders hope to get ahead of the curve and avoid a repeat of South Lamar Boulevard.

During a recent budget hearing, the Oxford Board of Aldermen and Mayor Robyn Tannehill discussed the need for an engineering plan for North Lamar, from the Morgan Family Park (corner of Price Street) to Molly Barr Road.

“With the tremendous growth our community is experiencing, planning ahead is critical if we want to protect the parts of Oxford that we treasure,” Tannehill said. “As developments crop up along North Lamar, I want to be sure we are also addressing traffic and parking as efficiently as possible.”

Tannehill said she hopes to avoid a repeat of what happened on South Lamar – development without planning for the future.

“Businesses are so close to the road that there is no option to implement the much-needed upgrades to that stretch of road,” she told the Eagle after the meeting. “I want to prevent this issue from happening again. That takes proactive planning.”

The aldermen will be looking closely at the North Lamar and Molly Barr intersection as the city’s next intersection improvement project priority, which includes a roundabout.

“We have worked hard over the past seven years to implement infrastructure improvements ahead of the expected growth and the roundabouts on Highway 30 are a good example,” Tannehill said. “The traffic count today doesn’t require this upgrade but as the development in that area continues with both residential and commercial projects underway, the improvements will be critical quickly.”

Tannehill has asked the Board of Aldermen to include the engineering plan in the 2024-2025 fiscal budget, which is expected to cost about $300K. If the Board decides to move forward with the design, they will also vote on whether to take the funds from the general fund or from the Baptist trust fund revenues.

“I believe moving forward with an engineering plan for North Lamar Boulevard from Morgan Family Park to Molly Barr is needed now,” Tannehill said. “That area of town is experiencing enormous growth.”