JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg helped break ground on a $20 million road improvement project for Medgar Evers Boulevard on Friday, June 21.

According to officials, the road will be fit with new pavement, street lights and sidewalks thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure packaged signed by President Joe Biden in 2021.

Buttigieg said the project honors the legacy of a civil rights icon while updating Jackson’s aging infrastructure.

“When you look at the Civil Rights Movement, you can’t escape how much of that struggle was about access to transportation, bus boycotts, segregated facilities. And it’s a reminder that when those basic things that everybody needs is access to transportation, that includes the condition of the roads and the condition of the roads. And Jackson suffered from disinvestment over decades. We’re here to help fix that, and as part of why we’re working directly with communities as we are with this $20 million to get a project like this done,” he said.

Willie Simmons, Central District Transportation Commissioner, expects new traffic and new businesses to reach the area.

“When you look at our interstate system around Jackson, it’s little to no opportunity for economic development and business development because of the way in which the interstate system is laid out. This particular project is going to bring traffic back into the inner-city,” Simmons said.

What will soon be a roadway designed to reconnect the metro to this part of the capital city, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said it also serves as a reminder of its namesake.

“Medgar Evers defended democracy all over the world. He came back to his home area still fighting for democracy and was killed in his driveway. We can’t ever let that die,” said Thompson.