Motorists on U.S. 90 this week have been seeing metal barricades and orange traffic cones in medians of the beachfront highway, signaling the pending arrival of spring break.
The gathering, loosely organized and sometimes promoted on social media as Black Spring Break, has attracted thousands to Biloxi this time each year, which means the city has dusted off its special events traffic plan to keep traffic moving.
In fact, in the early hours of Friday morning, as early as 2:30, Biloxi Public Works crews will place traffic cones to divide lanes of U.S. 90 traffic between I-110 in Biloxi and Cowan Road in Gulfport. The cones will help police, if needed, reduce traffic to one lane – reserving the left lanes each way for emergency traffic.
“This is all about making sure traffic moves safely throughout the weekend and that we avoid gridlock,” said Biloxi Police Chief John Miller. “We appreciate the public’s cooperation.”
As thousands of motorists and spring breakers arrive in the city for the event – numbers unknown at this writing – police will transition traffic signals into flashing mode and may prohibit left turns at major intersections. If traffic nears gridlock, police will limit traffic to the right hand lanes, eastbound and westbound, and reserve the left lanes for emergency vehicles only.
Advisories will be relayed through the city’s B-Alert text messaging system. Text BILOXI to 99411 to receive the free updates.
A change at Camellia and U.S. 90: At some point this weekend, police may divert eastbound U.S. 90 traffic at Camellia Avenue onto the eastbound service drive, where both lanes will be eastbound between Camellia and Rodenberg.
“In years past that area has been especially congested,” Miller said. “We’re going to try to see if we can keep it moving and, frankly, we’re hoping it will provide easier access to the beachfront restaurants and other attractions between Rodenberg and Camellia.”
See the traffic plan
News & notes: Boardwalk ceremony, council replay
Boardwalk ceremony: Secretary of State Michael Watson, Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich and Supervisor Beverly Martin spoke of cooperation and working together during a ribbon-cutting ceremomy this week at the West Biloxi boardwalk. Martin also provided a preview of the upcoming boat ramps planned for south of Camellia Avenue. See the seven-minute ceremony by clicking here.
Council replay: A new scoreboard at MGM Park and a host of other issues headlined the City Council meeting on Tuesday. To see a replay of the meeting, click here.
