MDOT executive director Brad White speaks at the Stennis Capitol Press luncheon on April 20, 2026 (Photo from MS Road Builders Association on Facebook)
- Brad White, the MDOT executive director, spoke Monday at the Stennis Capitol Press Forum, highlighting transportation funding and previewing expansion projects.
The executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation said Monday afternoon that he is pleased with the nearly $2 billion in funding the department received for the coming fiscal year.
“This session was pro-transportation,” said Brad White, noting the passage of HB 325, which eliminates the reverse repealer for lottery funding going to MDOT. The legislation allows a guaranteed $80 million to flow to the state agency.
“You can now plan,” said White of the dedicated funds, adding, “In transportation, we don’t just move cars, we move people. If we don’t tell people what we are doing, they will assume we’re lost.”
Some of the large highway expansion projects that MDOT is expecting to begin soon are I-55 in Madison County, Highway 25 in Rankin County, and I-55 in DeSoto County.
However, White said MDOT did not receive full funding for its capacity projects and must now rely on the federal government to move ahead on those projects. He told a group of about 30 people at the Stennis Capitol Press Forum in Jackson that MDOT received about half of the department’s needs, or $150 million, from the Legislature. The remaining funding could come from the Federal Highway Administration, but that is not a guarantee.
White said those three projects should start this year, noting MDOT does not want the cost of the major projects to increase.
Despite the transportation-friendly legislative session, White said MDOT still has work to do.
“The reason you have traffic problems is because the program MDOT implements is designed to build out our [highway] system in a way to prevent that from happening, and then it sits on a shelf for about 12 or 15 years,” he said.
White also discussed the lessons learned after Winter Storm Fern, which froze parts of Mississippi for days in January.
“Fern could have tested any system,” said White.
During the storm and its aftermath, MDOT deployed 878 employees, with more than half were without water or power at their homes. The department logged 30,000 man-hours, resulting in $1.25 million in overtime pay and used 53 tons of salt.
Lessons were learned in responding to the historic winter storm. White said one lesson is to have contractors in place year-round ready to roll. Another is to invest in better tools and equipment, from trucks to salt.
