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To see a postcard the city recently sent Popp’s Ferry area property owners, click here To see the overall Popp’s Ferry phasing, click here |
Traffic on Popp’s Ferry Road between Pass Road and the Margaret Sherry library was slowed Wednesday afternoon because of four unrelated incidents, but Mayor A.J. Holloway says city contractors are going to take steps to try to help keep traffic moving near the road-widening project north of the causeway.
On Wednesday, which was the first day contractors began installing a 16-inch water line adjacent to the two-lane roadway north of the causeway. The work meant a lane of traffic had to be closed for a 100-foot section of the road.
Two traffic accidents unrelated to the road work occurred late Wednesday afternoon on Popp’s Ferry Road, and shortly after 6 p.m., the causeway span was raised briefly for marine traffic.
“The temporary lane closure is expected to continue intermittently for another 28 days while workers are in the narrowest part of the roadway,” Mayor A.J. Holloway said, “but based on what we’ve seen the first day, the construction crews are going to adjust their schedule to help traffic flow better.”
Effective Friday morning, both lanes of traffic will be open each morning from 7 to 8 and each afternoon from 5 to 6. Biloxi police officers also will be on hand during peak traffic times to help keep traffic moving, Holloway said.
Motorists can do their part, the mayor added, by using extra caution in the area and abiding by the 25 mph speed limit immediately north of the causeway. Police this week posted the city’s portable radar display on Popp’s Ferry Road to help motorists monitor their speed.
Biloxi is in the process of widening Popp’s Ferry Road to help more efficiently handle the average of 16,000 vehicles of day that travel the artery, which is major entrance into the western part of the city.
The roadway has been widened to five lanes from Cedar Lake Road to Jam Lane, and the current work will see a three-lane roadway between the causeway to the Margaret Sherry Library, followed by the widening of the roadway from the library to Jam Lane.
The entire widening project is scheduled to be completed in November 2004, and a temporary traffic lane to help keep two lanes of traffic open from the causeway to the library is expected to be in place within 60 days.
“Major roadwork like this is going to cause inconveniences, and it’s even more difficult in narrow work areas where access is limited,” Holloway said. “Hopefully, we’ll have things running much better as this project moves on.”
