Oscar Renda Contracting began paving on Back Bay Boulevard last week, and the company hopes to have the entire roadway rebuilt and repaved within 45 to 60 days.
The four-lane boulevard, which travels along Back Bay and connects Oak Street to I-110, would serve as a detour route around the infrastructure work. The work now impacts about 55 miles of streets in east Biloxi and accounts for most thoroughfares north of the CSX railway.
“We are pleased with the continued progress of the Back Bay Boulevard restoration,” said Joel Murrah, who is overseeing the east Biloxi infrastructure work for Oscar Renda. “Our crews are putting in long hours to ensure the work remains ahead of schedule and when complete, this will be a corridor to help alleviate the aggravation experienced by motorists trying to maneuver through the project.”
The federally funded work on Back Bay Boulevard began with installing new sewer and drainage lines. Then, working westward from Oak Street, at the east end of Back Bay Boulevard, workers began taking steps to stabilize the roadbed.
“We’re actually taking up two feet all across the four lanes, as wide as 65 to 80 feet in some places,” said Murrah, project manager of the $118 million infrastructure work that has been underway since 2014 in east Biloxi.
“As we remove the rotten ground, we’re adding Geogrid, which is a material that comes in a roll, that is laid down to help stabilize the soil. It forms a barrier and then we add the limestone, which will be followed by paving.”
See photos from Back Bay Boulevard paving
See the two-minute video status report
News and notes
Traffic update: To see the latest on road work throughout the city, with links to MDOT traffic cameras, click here.
City Council meeting: The Biloxi City Council meets Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 at City Hall. To see the agenda for the meeting, click here.
Development meeting: The Biloxi Development Review Committee meets Wednesday morning at 9 at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Municipal Building. To see the agenda for the meeting, click here.
