All sections of the new four-lane Caillavet Street were re-opened to traffic this morning, nearly six months ahead of schedule, after contactors notified the city that the roadwork was substantially complete.
Project manager J.W. Ford of Yates Construction said that workers will still be in the area over the next week or so, “finishing up a few odds and ends,” such as repairing curbing in some areas and installing fixtures atop several light poles at the northern end of the roadway. No road closures are planned.
The multi-million-dollar widening of the 1.3-mile thoroughfare, which runs between Beau Rivage and IP Casino Spa, is the centerpiece of the city’s overall Caillavet Street revitalization project and a leg of the east Biloxi traffic loop, which includes Bayview Avenue, Back Bay Boulevard, Oak Street and U.S. 90.
“Our next step,” Mayor A.J. Holloway said, “is to order up new appraisals on the property the city purchased on the east side of Caillavet, where we’re already seeing interest for re-development.”
The mayor hopes to see small retail shops, restaurants and apartments line the new boulevard, which features new lighting and landscaping, and eight-foot sidewalks. Since the project began several years ago, a new casino resort, Bacaran Bay, has announced its plans to locate on Caillavet Street, a couple blocks south of Bayview Avenue.
A major section of Caillavet Street – between Division Street and Bayview Avenue — had been closed for more than two weeks, while contractors waited for asphalt to cure before installing striping. The city, having saved money on the project through the use of construction management, also had expanded the project, paving south of the CSX Railway all the way to U.S. 90.
Said Holloway: “This has certainly been a time-consuming and sometimes difficult process for the city and property owners along Caillavet, but we’re turning a once-blighted area into the crown jewel of redevelopment projects.”
To see an aerial view of Caillavet Street and read other projects detailed in the city’s annual State of the City mailout, click here.
