One Year In: Jacksonians Work to Keep I-55 Clean
November 2024 will make a year since realtor Locke Ward and retired periodontist Roger Parkes started spearheading several cleanups of I-55 underpasses, frontage roads, and exits in North Jackson. Ward, a Jackson native, was tired of seeing trash and unkempt streets on his way to and from home and jumped into action. Parkes, a Memphis native and Jackson resident since age 7, has led cleanup efforts on Briarwood Drive, including demolishing the Briarwood One office building that became home to vagrants and crime after being left vacant by owners. The two met one day and haven’t looked back.
Ward, Parkes, and their friends like Mississippi Delta native Laurie McClintock meet on Friday mornings under the Canton Mart Road underpass to collect trash that accumulates weekly from passing drivers and the homeless community dumpster-diving. “Lakeland Drive to County Line Road is the most traveled piece of interstate in Mississippi, and it doesn’t look good,” said Parkes. “Now and then, we can get them (MDOT) to clean up, but we want MDOT to pay more attention to this area. It should look good. So, we’re going to pick it up.”
Ward and Parkes have forged positive relationships with the homeless community that lives under the bridge, sometimes paying them to help, creating opportunities, and instilling a sense of pride in the place they consider home. Ward and Parkes have also solicited help from contractors like Casey Can Home Services and urban landscapers to mow right-of-ways and medians, power wash concrete on the Frontage Road, and clear ditches of debris and overgrown greenery. Ward has raised over $60,000 to support these efforts. As of today, $52,555 has been raised via GoFundMe organized by Locke Ward and Casey Bridges.
The LeFleur East Foundation, a nonprofit organization created to improve and enrich the quality of life for residents and businesses in the LeFleur East area of Jackson, has also been helping to restore the I-55 Frontage Road through its Exit 100 Project. The organization contracted SoHo Southern Horticulture to landscape and beautify the I-55 Northside Drive exit. They also offered to fundraise for the demolition of the abandoned OYO Hotel. According to the City, the hotel will be torn down soon.
The men plan on doing this work indefinitely. They will continue to help the homeless, landscape major roadways, discourage help for panhandlers, ask local and state authorities to do their part, and remain active in their respective Eastover and Fondren neighborhoods. “When you die, and you’re standing before the Maker, and you’re trying to get into Heaven, they're going to ask you if you made this a better place or a worse place. If the answer’s a worse place, then you’re not getting in,” Parkes chuckled.
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