Crews are making great progress on our annual street paving project! Following work on Stephens Street, resurfacing operations will move sequentially through the following streets this week:
Stephens St (Finalizing work)
Martin St
Chestnut St
N. Haynes St
Calhoun St
Important Resident Reminders:
Street Parking: Please ensure all vehicles are moved off the street by 7:00 AM on scheduled work days to allow crews full access.
Traffic Delays: Expect temporary single-lane closures and short delays. Please use alternate routes when possible.
Safety First: Use extra caution around construction workers, heavy equipment, and freshly paved surfaces.
Check out the map graphics below for work boundary details for each street section. Thank you for your patience as we work to improve our city roads!
The latest progress on the comprehensive 2026 Street Resurfacing Project is here! Following the initial project kickoff, the crew from Falcon Construction estimates they will begin active paving work on Stephens Street starting the week of Monday, September 14th.
📍 Where: Stephens Street (from Woods Street to Burke)
⏰ When: Starting the week of September 14, 2026!
The contractor is bringing crews and equipment to this segment to move fast and minimize disruption. However, please anticipate minor delays and consider planning alternate routes if your daily commute usually takes you down Stephens Street. We’ll continue posting daily street schedules as the project progresses so you always know where the work is happening!
The primary construction zone for this phase will span the segment of Stephens Street from Woods Street to Burke.
Here is a map highlighting the active construction segment where crews will be working starting on Monday:
Great news for Water Valley! The Reynolds Report is excited to announce that active construction on our comprehensive street resurfacing project will officially begin on September 8th.
Bringing Value to Our City’s Streets
This project represents a major milestone in our community’s infrastructure improvement. By utilizing high-tech LiDAR assessment and an independent study from Golden Triangle Planning, the city was able to identify the highest-need roadway segments to prioritize. Moving from survey maps to active paving, we will be focusing on resurfacing portions of 19 streets that fell into the 25th percentile of lowest-rated road conditions. This data-driven approach ensures that we are delivering tangible value to local residents and business owners exactly where it is needed most.
Funded Without Touching the City Budget
Quality infrastructure relies on sound financial stewardship. We want to emphasize that this entire paving initiative is being paid for without overburdening city finances. The project is financed through an Internet Sales Tax bond, meaning these critical street infrastructure improvements are happening without utilizing standard city budget funds. It is a smart, responsible civic financing model that puts local internet tax dollars to work for our community.
Stay Informed with Daily Updates
As Falcon Construction begins laying asphalt, we want to ensure you can easily navigate around the active work zones. To keep everyone in the loop, The Reynolds Report will share daily posts detailing exactly where the crews will be working each day once the project is underway. These regular updates will allow you to plan your daily commutes, avoid temporary delays, and track the progress across our neighborhoods.
What’s Next?
Stay tuned! We will be sharing another update in the next couple of days to announce exactly which streets the crews will be starting on when work kicks off on September 8th.
If you’ve been following along here on The Reynolds Report, you know we’ve had plenty of good news to celebrate lately. From state infrastructure grants to major right-of-way investments, our town is moving forward with purpose. Today, we have another major update on one of our most anticipated community projects: our $1.1 million citywide street resurfacing project officially kicks off this month!
As crews from Falcon Construction prepare to roll in, we want to take a moment to update everyone on what to expect, remind our community how these streets were chosen, and share a few thoughts on why data-backed transparency matters now more than ever for Water Valley.
1. Work Begins This Month: Stay Tuned for Real-Time Updates
Paving equipment will be hitting local pavement before the month is out. Because resurfacing involves heavy machinery and temporary lane adjustments, keeping you informed in real time is our top priority.
Where to watch: We will be posting ongoing updates right here on The Reynolds Report blog and across our official social media channels. (Visit us on Facebook & Instagram!)
What to look for: Look out for upcoming posts detailing specific street sequences, daily timelines, and temporary traffic reroutes so you can plan your daily drive without surprises.
2. Guided by Lasers, Not Lines: How Streets Were Chosen
When Mayor Tommy Reynolds championed the state’s Internet Sales Tax law (the Mississippi Infrastructure Modernization Act) during his legislative tenure, the goal was simple: bring local digital dollars back home to fix physical hometown roads. With over $1 million secured for Water Valley’s streets, every single taxpayer cent needed to go exactly where it was required most.
That is why Water Valley became the first municipality in Mississippi to deploy Mobile LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) laser mapping technology across our entire street grid.
Instead of relying on guesswork, political preferences, or ward-by-ward division, a high-tech mapping vehicle scanned every road in town down to the millimeter. Advanced computer software generated a 3D digital model of our streets, identifying hidden structural flaws, alligator cracking, and severe dip points that the human eye simply can’t measure.
The result? The streets slated for resurfacing in this contract were chosen purely on physical condition and engineering need. Every neighbor gets equal consideration because the laser doesn’t care about political lines—it only cares about road quality.
3. A Look at the Numbers: Why Data-Driven Decisions Matter
Using objective data from tech like LiDAR protects taxpayers from outdated administrative boundaries. To see why that’s so important, we only need to look at our town’s current Ward population figures.
Under federal Constitutional standards and Mississippi election laws, municipal ward boundaries are supposed to maintain relatively equal populations to guarantee equal representation for every citizen (“one person, one vote”). Typically, total population deviation across all wards should remain within a 10% threshold.
However, looking at our current population counts by Ward, Water Valley’s lines have become noticeably out of balance over time:
Note: With an overall population of approximately 3,380 residents across 4 wards, the overall deviation spread between our highest-populated ward (Ward 1) and lowest-populated ward (Ward 2) exceeds 82.96%—well beyond the standard 10% legal deviation limit.
These numbers show that our current Ward maps are distinctly out of kilter. (Looking down the road, updating and redistricting our municipal Ward lines is an important civic necessity that our town will eventually need to address.)
Thankfully, when it came to paving your streets, we didn’t have to wait on ward lines or outdated population maps. By relying on LiDAR scanning technology rather than political boundaries, we ensured that road repair priority went strictly to the worst roads first, regardless of which Ward you happen to call home.
What’s Next?
Our priority today is delivering smooth, durable, high-quality streets to every neighborhood in Water Valley cleanly and efficiently.
Keep an eye on this space over the coming days as we release the finalized street-by-street paving schedule. Thank you for your continued support, your patience as construction begins, and your shared pride in building a brighter, smoother future for Water Valley!
Have questions or thoughts about the upcoming street project? Send us a note at [email protected] or drop a comment on our social media channels!
At The Reynolds Report, we love sharing updates that show real, tangible progress right here in our town! Recently, our dedicated City of Water Valley public works crew was hard at work installing a crisp, high-visibility pedestrian crosswalk leading directly to the trailhead of the Yalobusha Greenway.
Whether you’re out for a morning jog, walking your dog, or taking a family stroll over the footbridge, getting to our town’s recreation spaces safely should always be a top priority. Mayor Tommy Reynolds joined the crew on-site to inspect the progress as they laid down wooden guide stencils and rolled on fresh, durable white paint to bring this safety upgrade to life.
Expressing Our Gratitude to Our City Workers
Great communities are built by hard-working hands, and our municipal crew deserves a huge round of applause! 👏
Hands-On Dedication: Under the hot Mississippi sun, our workers carefully measured, prepped, and painted a bright crosswalk designed to capture drivers’ attention and protect pedestrians.
Pride in Their Craft: From mixing heavy-duty paint to laying down precise line guides, their attention to detail ensures this crosswalk will serve Water Valley families safely for years to come.
Service Behind the Scenes: Their steady efforts every day keep our streets safe, clean, and functioning smoothly.
“A town’s true strength lies in the people who maintain it. Thank you to our city workers for your hard work, craftsmanship, and dedication to keeping Water Valley safe!”
Enhancing Quality of Life in Water Valley
While a new crosswalk might seem like a simple improvement, projects like this reflect a much larger vision: continuously improving the quality of life for every resident in Water Valley.
By making our streets safer and seamlessly connecting neighborhoods to community treasures like the Yalobusha Greenway, we are:
Promoting Active, Healthy Living: Giving walkers, runners, and families a safer, designated crossing to access trail amenities and enjoy the outdoors.
Prioritizing Pedestrian Safety: Clearly marking trail crossings near roadways to calm traffic and protect residents of all ages.
Investing in Local Infrastructure: Upgrading walkability and connectivity to make Water Valley an even more inviting place to live, work, and raise a family.
Keep an eye out for more continuous improvement updates right here on The Reynolds Report. Next time you head out to enjoy the Yalobusha Greenway, take advantage of the fresh new crossing—and if you see our city workers around town, be sure to give them a wave and a big thank you!
Hello, Water Valley neighbors! We have some monumental news that is going to make your daily commute smoother, your neighborhoods safer, and our town a true trailblazer in the state of Mississippi.
At our July 1st meeting, the City Council officially greenlit a massive street improvements contract to Falcon Construction for a low base bid of $1,012,989.50. This major project is bond-funded and supercharged by a very special state revenue stream—meaning your hard-earned dollars are going right back into the ground where they belong.
Not only is this project a massive financial win, but Water Valley is also making history with how we are executing it.
💰 Powered by Progress: How the Internet Sales Tax is Rebuilding Water Valley
A million-dollar investment is a big deal for a town of our size, and we are incredibly proud to share how this is being made affordable. A vital piece of the financial backbone for this project comes directly from the Mississippi Infrastructure Modernization Act, frequently known as the state’s Internet Sales Tax law.
Passed during a historic special legislative session, this law changed the game by requiring out-of-state online retailers to collect and remit state use taxes on internet purchases. Crucially, the law mandates a strict diversion formula: 15% of these internet tax revenues are sent straight back to local municipalities, and another 15% go to counties.
Here is why this matters to you:
Strictly for Upgrades: By law, these diverted funds cannot lapse into a general state fund. They must be spent strictly on the repair, maintenance, and reconstruction of local roads, bridges, streets, or water/sewer systems.
Mayor Reynolds’ Legislative Legacy: Before taking office as our Mayor, Tommy Reynolds proudly supported and voted for this infrastructure act during his 44 distinguished years in the Mississippi State Legislature. He fought for this legislation because he knew it would create a level playing field for our local brick-and-mortar small businesses while securing a dedicated, permanent revenue stream for local hometown roads. Today, as your Mayor, he is thrilled to put those very same digital dollars to work right here on our physical streets!
🚀 A Mississippi First: Mapping Our Streets with LiDAR!
Because we are utilizing these vital public funds, we want to make sure every single penny is spent with maximum efficiency. That is why Water Valley is proud to be the very first municipality in the state of Mississippi to utilize advanced LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology to map out our entire street system before the pavers even arrive!
Instead of old-school, manual visual inspections where crews have to guess how much asphalt is needed or miss hidden structural flaws, we are letting lasers do the heavy lifting. Our city engineer is moving quickly to direct Falcon Construction to begin using this high-tech data immediately so we can get ahead of the bad weather season.
🧠 How Does LiDAR Street Mapping Work? (An Easy Overview)
If you see a specialized vehicle driving through town equipped with unique pods and sensors on the roof, you’re looking at a Mobile LiDAR Mapping System. Here is a quick breakdown of how this modern technology changes the game for road repair:
Laser Speed Scanning: The system fires millions of harmless laser pulses per second toward the pavement while driving at normal highway speeds.
Creating a “3D Digital Twin”: By measuring exactly how long it takes for each laser beam to bounce back, a powerful onboard computer calculates the distance down to the millimeter. This creates an incredibly detailed, 3D point-cloud map of every road, curb, and dip in town.
X-Ray Vision for Road Damage: Advanced software automatically color-codes the streets based on exact damage severity. It detects microscopic alligator cracking, hidden potholes, deep ruts, and slope issues that the human eye simply cannot see.
📊 Why This Matters for Water Valley Taxpayers:
Zero Guesswork: The technology tells us exactly how much resurfacing material is needed and where. This prevents contractors from over-ordering asphalt, saving our town thousands of dollars in overrun costs.
Perfect Paving Pre-Planning: It highlights foundation weaknesses under the asphalt before paving starts. This means when we fix a road, it stays fixed, breaking those frustrating, costly “damage repair cycles.”
No Traffic Disruption: Traditional surveying requires closing lanes and putting crews in harm’s way. LiDAR scans are done seamlessly at regular driving speeds without interrupting your day.
📋 What’s Next?
Our team is finalizing the paperwork, and the engineer is giving Falcon Construction the official green light to deploy. We are thrilled to bring this level of cutting-edge transparency, fiscal responsibility, and technological efficiency to our infrastructure. Our historic town may be deeply rooted in tradition, but we are absolutely stepping into the future when it comes to taking care of our citizens.
Thank you, Water Valley, for your support, your patience as work begins, and your shared pride in our community. Big, smooth changes are on the horizon!
Send us a message at [email protected] and let us know what street you’re most excited to see get a high-tech facelift, or leave a 🍉 on our socials to celebrate this Mississippi-first milestone with us!
