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2019 is a year worth remembering for the Mississippi Department of Transportation in South Mississippi. Throughout those 365 days MDOT’s been busy paving nearly 200 miles of highway and completing dozens of projects, but these projects didn’t happen overnight; they took weeks, months, and sometimes years to complete all with the same end goal–make Mississippi highways safer for drivers.
This spring, MDOT crews completed a nearly $3.5 million pedestrian walkway in Biloxi over one of Highway 90’s busiest intersection. With the Beau Rivage on one side of the highway and the MGM Park on the other, not to mention the more than 16 thousand vehicles passing through this intersection daily, the bridge was a true necessity.
But work on Highway 90 didn’t stop there, crews completed 3 separate overlay projects throughout Harrison County that stretched about 28 miles from the Jackson County line all the way to the Hancock County line. Along with the noticeable work of paving and striping the highway and replacing parts of the sidewalk, there were also improvements made that are not so obvious, underground drainage pipes were cleaned and repainted, maintenance that hasn’t been done in 15 years.
A little further up the road, State Route 57 was put back in service, and added back to the hurricane evacuation route. The highway was shut down in September of 2017 after being struck by a truck carrying a track hoe, leaving people in Jackson County with only one evacuation route. But after nearly 2 years of hard work a brand new $7.7 million concrete bridge was built, the road was realigned and peace of mind was restored.
In Covington County a shoulder reconstruction project on US 49 was mostly complete early this fall. This federal safety project came with a $39 million price tag. The funds were used to expand existing shoulders making it easier for drivers to pull off the road, build retaining walls to prevent any hills from sliding into the road, and reconstruct the medians between the north and south lanes to help prevent head on collisions.
While each project is unique and tailored to each specific area–they all share a common theme, improving safety–but MDOT’s not just focused on safety when it comes to road conditions, it also has its eyes on who occupies them. Just this year MDOT law enforcement officers made 33 arrests and conducted more than 4,700 commercial vehicle safety inspections.
As you can see 2019 was a success for the department, and with eyes already set on 2020 next year is sure to be an even bigger success.
 
