The West Biloxi boardwalk continues on track for its completion this summer, and plans are already in the works for a boardwalk that will wrap around the tip of the Biloxi peninsula.
A look at the West Biloxi boardwalk, facing west from the CTA Comfort Station east of Rodenberg.
The West Biloxi work, a city-county project using more than a million dollars in Tidelands funds, will be more than 3,000 feet long and 10-feet wide and run along the beachfront, connecting the Coast Transit Authority Comfort Station near Rodenberg Avenue to Veterans Avenue.
Among the work remaining: Installation of the western end of the composite deck walkway, east of Veterans Avenue, and LED lighting, which will be placed along the south side of the boardwalk.
Meantime, on Point Cadet, the boardwalk connecting the Golden Nugget and Palace casino resorts, officially known as the East Biloxi Public Access and Living Shoreline Project, will be 12-feet wide and concrete, with benches and steps that lead to the water’s edge for fishing, floundering or soft shelling.
Bids are expected to be received in mid-July with construction expected about a month or so later. The $1.5 million project is being funded locally.
“These projects are important because they tie our beachfront together and make it more accessible,” said Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich, who has called for contiguous boardwalks – existing concrete and new ones – to stretch from DeBuys Road to Point Cadet and around to areas of Back Bay.
“An attraction of this type creates interest along the waterfront, in terms of visitors and locals, as well as new waterfront-related businesses, whether they are restaurants or other econ
omic development opportunities. You can’t say enough about the synergy that this will create.”
The Point Cadet project, says City Engineer Christy LeBatard, “will also include improvements to the surface parking lots south of the Palace parking garage, including better drainage and improving the traffic flow and parking lot layout.”
The next phase of the West Biloxi Boardwalk also is in the works. It will run from Veterans Avenue to Camellia Street, near Treasure Bay Casino, and is moving through the state and federal permitting process.
“This boardwalk, which will be funded with Tidelands money, will be a combination of wood and concrete,” LeBatard said. “The design is just now starting on this phase of the project, but I would estimate that this project would be out to bid by the end of the year, depending on the permitting process and any easements that would be needed.”
