Highway Architects: Building Mississippi's Future

Former Northern Transportation Commissioner Zack Stewart.

They’re an authentic Who’s Who of Mississippi Roadbuilding, modern version. Like earlier pioneers of state road construction, they took us out of the mud, the ditches and the potholes, making our highways stack up better against those elsewhere.

Some Mississippians who live south of Interstate 20 might not realize we have a new east-west federal route from Birmingham to Memphis -I-22- that’s one of the finest anywhere. Old U.S. 78 was upgraded to become this magnificent slab, traversing the North Mississippi counties of Itawamba, Lee, Pontotoc, Union, Benton, Marshall and DeSoto.

These men were and are commercialitans of sand, gravel, concrete and asphalt; wheelers and dealers in huge highway construction contracts and the inevitable cost-overruns; and marketers of expensive heavy machinery like excavators, asphalt pavers, bulldozers, motor graders and dump trucks.

Other personages of this ilk served in elective state and regional transportation offices, or were members of crucial legislative highway and money-appropriating committees. Someone should create a database of their names and the roles they played in developing Mississippi’s modern highway system, but some would be missed. Let’s just call each one an “architect” of our aggregated highway program.

During highway post elections, voters might see a huge billboard photo of an incumbent seeking another term in office. Emblazoned on the sign in the background would be the number of roadway miles that had been repaved in the previous four-year term. One such official of high regard was fiveterm Northern District Transportation Commissioner Zack Stewart, who served from 1984- 2003. He recently died at age 87.

His death was reported by his hometown newspaper, the New Albany Gazette, which praised the inimitable Stewart for “a life marked by service, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to progress.”

The notice properly identified Stewart as “a principal architect of the 1987 Four-Lane Highway Program, a ansformational initiative that brought more than 1,000 miles of fourlane roads to Mississippi. He also helped establish the modern Mississippi Department of Transportation.” Stewart was also honored nationally, serving as chairman of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

He twice ran unsuccessfully for the job of “highway commissioner.” When a third try proved to be the charm, it was a billboard created by his old friend, public relations executive and former Amory newspaper publisher Bill Miles, that was key to Stewart’s election win. Miles recounted the plan in his 2008 memoir, “Scribe Among Pharisees.”

“It’s Zack’s Time!” the signs blared across North Mississippi. Miles and Stewart had devised the slogan over lunch. It led to Stewart’s defeat of the longtime incumbent, Bobby Richardson.

Upon Stewart’s death, Miles wrote in a newspaper essay about the ex-Marine’s sometimes disagreeable manner. “Zack could irritate anyone. I have often said that I had to insult him first to get an upper hand … Zack was fiercely loyal, dependable and straight as an arrow. He was blunt by nature … He tried to ignore petty politics and back MDOT’s professionals in doing their job.” Harbison said he has witnessed how impactful that message is.

Miles, who followed his sterling newspaper career with service in the Legislature, where he was the productive chairman of the House Transportation Committee, told how much Speaker of the Mississippi House Billy McCoy, U.S. Rep. Jamie Whitten, businessmen Owen Cooper, J.C. Whitehead and George McLean, legislative transportation committee stalwart John Pennebaker, Stewart and highway contractors Kenneth Hill and Tommy Wallace had meant to the improvement of state roads through the vaunted 1987 project. There were many others who contributed.

“In my opinion, North Mississippi’s highways came about because this was a blue ribbon team. Where there is a vision, there are good roads. Where there are no good roads, there is no vision,” Miles correctly wrote in “Scribe.”

---Mac Gordon is a native of McComb. He is a retired newspaperman. He can be reached at macmarygordon@ gmail.com.o fuel ministry.