This report is from a public meeting on the proposed MS 601 freeway between I-10 near Gulfport, MS and US 49 near Wiggins, MS, on March 14, 2006.
Two public meetings in the area today, one for the proposed Bay St. Louis
replacement bridge on US 90, the other a study to extend the proposed MS 601
freeway north of I-10. Since I already have a good idea what the new Bay St.
Louis bridge will be, I concentrated on the latter meeting, and never did make
it to the bridge meeting.
Currently, MS 601 is the route number for the proposed "Port of Gulfport"
connector, which would provide a freeway-grade facility connecting the Port of
Gulfport to I-10 just east of Canal Rd (Exit 31). The interchange at I-10 is
proposed as a full 4-level stack interchange (which would be the first in
Mississippi), with the public meeting today being for the study to extend this
route north of I-10. The study is currently in the scoping phase.
The study extends from I-10 to the Stone/Forrest County line, with the alignment
options basically forming three main alternatives. All build alternatives would
provide for a full freeway-grade facility between these two locations. There are
three basic alternatives, with the main difference between the three being in
where the new alignment alternative joins US 49. All three alternatives would
upgrade existing US 49 to freeway from the junction point north to the
Stone/Forrest County line. All of the new alignment options run parallel to and
roughly 2-3 miles west of existing US 49.
Alternative 1 has the least amount of new alignment, rejoining existing US 49 in
the Wortham vicnity (about 3 miles north of MS 53). A sub-alternate (Alternative
1A) would rejoing existing US 49 about a mile further north. With all the
various alignment options being considered between I-10 and MS 53, Alternative 1
has a total of 7 alignment options.
Alternative 2 has the new alignment rejoining existing US 49 about 1.5 miles
south of Saucier. This alternative has a total of 5 alignment options.
Alternative 3 has the most amount of new alignment, with the new alignment not
rejoining US 49 until the south end of the Wiggins bypass. This alternative has
a sub-alternate (Alt. 3A) between Howison and Perkinston, basically running
about a mile closer to US 49 than the main alternative. Because of that
sub-alternative, this alternative has a total of 10 alignment options.
So there are a total of 22 alignment alternatives within the three primary
alternatives.
Besides the already-proposed stack at I-10 and the existing interchanges at MS
26 and Future MS 67, interchanges are proposed at the following locations: MS
53, Saucier, McHenry, Perkinston, South Wiggins, and Bond (near the
Stone/Forrest County line). Alternatives 1 and 2 would also have an additional
interchange wherever the new alignment meets existing US 49.
I spoke with an engineer from MDOT's District 6 (which covers this area). He
said that, in the event the freeway does get built, US 49 would likely remain on
its existing route and the new-alignment part of the freeway would receive the
designation already proposed: MS 601.
Had a nice long conversation with the same engineer about other projects and
events. One item of interest is that he mentioned two area projects that were
all set to go for ROW acquisition and construction when the higher-ups within
MDOT stopped both projects. One was a proposed bypass of Kiln for MS 43.
The other was a proposed widening of US 11 from I-59 at Nicholson north through
Picayune to the Hide-A-Way Lake turnoff (about a mile north of MS 43). The
latter project, from chatting with locals in my new "town of residence", has
been on the boards for the better part of 20 years, while the Kiln bypass
project has been around for over 10 years. With the way traffic has mushroomed
since Katrina (with no signs of going away), both projects are desperately
needed.
He also mentioned survey work he had done a few years ago for a possible
realignment of MS 43 east of Picayune. He said MS 43 would have been realigned
starting near the Pearl River/Hancock County line to run northwest to tie
directly into "MS 43 North" at I-59's Exit 6. As with the other two
projects, this one was put on hold, although he did mention a timeline for doing
something with MS 43 east of Picayune around 2010.
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