Before approving any application under this chapter the board shall have the Mississippi Department of Transportation, or the political subdivision if the political subdivision will have the construction or improvement performed, prepare and submit to it a detailed engineering study and report of all estimated costs associated with the construction and improvement of the highways and highway segments requested by the application of the political subdivision along with the estimated annual costs necessary to be expended for maintenance thereof. If the political subdivision will have the construction or improvement performed on a state designated highway that will be maintained by the Mississippi Department of Transportation, the board shall not approve the application of such political subdivision until the engineering study required in this section has been submitted by the board to the Mississippi Department of Transportation and has been certified by the Transportation Department to the board as proposing construction or improvement of highways and highway segments that meets Transportation Department standards for such work. If the political subdivision will have the construction or improvement performed on a highway that is not on the designated state highway system, the board shall not approve the application of such political subdivision until the engineering study required in this section has been submitted by the board to the Office of State Aid Road Construction and has been certified by the Office of State Aid Road Construction to the board as proposing construction or improvement of highways and highway segments that meets Office of State Aid Road Construction standards for such work.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation or the Office of State Aid Road Construction, as the case may be, may recommend modifications to the location and route of those highways and highway segments proposed in the application of the political subdivision if such modifications are more cost effective and would not have a substantially negative economic impact on the project of the private company.