Mississippi

[agentsteel53]

I just saw some brand new retroreflective signs that still use the Pensacola/Pascagoula pair of control cities.  They were in Mobile, I think.

is there any reason to still be signing that pair?  New Orleans has been a perfectly valid control city since the 1970s when I-10 was completed through Mississippi (and is much more likely where people are going) - and, of course, a sign that says, upon quick reading, "10 P...a/10 P...a" is not confusing in the slightest  

[brownpelican]

History: Pascagoula was used for I-10 West because until the early 80s, there was a gap on the highway in both directions where it crossed the West and East Pascagoula rivers and its associated wetlands and the Escatawpa River and its wetlands. Drivers from Mobile had to get off at Franklin Creek Road just east of Pascagoula and use U.S. 90 through town until they got to Gautier to get back on the interstate.

Why Pascagoula is still used today I have no clue.

[brownpelican]

Found a video from WLBT-TV in Jackson that features the takedown of the Benjamin Humphreys bridge outside Greenville.

http://www.wlbt.com/global/category.asp?c=195965&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5277901&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

[golden eagle]

Vandals spray paint BGSs on I-55 in Jackson

[codyg1985]

History: Pascagoula was used for I-10 West because until the early 80s, there was a gap on the highway in both directions where it crossed the West and East Pascagoula rivers and its associated wetlands and the Escatawpa River and its wetlands. Drivers from Mobile had to get off at Franklin Creek Road just east of Pascagoula and use U.S. 90 through town until they got to Gautier to get back on the interstate.

Why Pascagoula is still used today I have no clue.

I-10 East uses Bay St. Louis in Slidell for some reason, too. I assume for the same reason (the interstate used to end just inside the MS border).

[SSF]

When I drove through MS on I-20 today, I saw some MDOT surveyors out in the median around Morton and 3 miles east of Morton.  Would they be widening it to 6 lanes out that far? it's a good 20 miles past the last bit of 6 lane widening they are working on now.

[froggie]

No they wouldn't be widening that far out.  Would be something else.

[UptownRoadGeek]

Whatever become of I-10 port connector or the redisgn of the I-10/I-110 interchange?

[froggie]

As I understand it, clearing is underway for part of the port connector.

The I-10/110 interchange is currently in the environmental study phase.  MDOT's STIP includes ROW acquistion, but no construction, through 2013.

[berberry]

When I drove through MS on I-20 today, I saw some MDOT surveyors out in the median around Morton and 3 miles east of Morton.  Would they be widening it to 6 lanes out that far? it's a good 20 miles past the last bit of 6 lane widening they are working on now.

Likely, they're doing the same thing they've done in Vicksburg and on a few stretches along 20 toward Jackson.  They survey and mark locations in various ways, leave, then soon return and build buffer fences along each set of lanes.  I'd look for those fences near Morton within a month or so, based on what you've described.

[UptownRoadGeek]

As I understand it, clearing is underway for part of the port connector.

The I-10/110 interchange is currently in the environmental study phase.  MDOT's STIP includes ROW acquistion, but no construction, through 2013.

I've also heard that they're looking to fund a third interstate between I-10 and U.S. 90? Any truth to this?

[US71]

Found a video from WLBT-TV in Jackson that features the takedown of the Benjamin Humphreys bridge outside Greenville.

http://www.wlbt.com/global/category.asp?c=195965&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5277901&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

Depressing          

[froggie]

I've also heard that they're looking to fund a third interstate between I-10 and U.S. 90? Any truth to this?

http://www.gomdot.com/Home/Projects/Facts/Southern/EastHarrisonConnector/pdf/EastHarrisonConnector.pdf

This PDF is about 5 years old.  Several groups (especially those along Popps Ferry Rd) are opposed to the magnitude of it.  Biloxi and MPO officials at the time preferred a 4-lane at-grade arterial corridor tying directly into (and utilizing) Popps Ferry Rd, including an extension of the road south to US 90 near the Coast Coliseum...that southern extension is something Biloxi is still pursuing.  Otherwise, there hasn't been any news on this for many years...

[berberry]

This PDF is about 5 years old.  Several groups (especially those along Popps Ferry Rd) are opposed to the magnitude of it.

I remember seeing this along with a map of the proposed interchange at I-10.  It was a monstrous thing; looked like a full stack placed entirely and directly above a half-cloverleaf.  I'm not sure I fault those folks for being opposed.  It looked excessive to me.

[froggie]

You're thinking of a different interchange...the aforementioned Gulfport Port Connector.  Officially MS 601, but occasionally labeled I-310.

[berberry]

Found a video from WLBT-TV in Jackson that features the takedown of the Benjamin Humphreys bridge outside Greenville.

http://www.wlbt.com/global/category.asp?c=195965&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5277901&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

Depressing          

I liked that old bridge, too.  Thank goodness we didn't lose our old bridge in Vicksburg when the new one opened sometime around 1970.

It's a little less depressing, at least for me, when I consider that the old Greenville bridge was indeed a river navigation hazard.  At least things are a bit safer now for some of the folks who depend on that river for their livelihoods. 

[froggie]

Thank goodness we didn't lose our old bridge in Vicksburg when the new one opened sometime around 1970.

Kinda hard to lose it when there's still an active railroad running across the bridge.

[berberry]

Thank goodness we didn't lose our old bridge in Vicksburg when the new one opened sometime around 1970.

Kinda hard to lose it when there's still an active railroad running across the bridge.

Oh yeah, but we can thank the planners of the new bridge for that.  Or at least I guess we can; I was a small child when they built it and probably not even born during the early planning.  But if you're pointing out the fact that I was forgetting about the need for a railroad bridge, then you're right - I was.

A lot of folks were enraged when they closed the old bridge, fearing it would never reopen, which it hasn't.  But I remember at the time our local politicians were promising that as soon as the structural problems were corrected, they'd open it.  I think they were lying, because I believe there are federal regulations, which they should know about, preventing such an outdated structure from reopening once it's closed. 

People now want it reopened for pedestrians and bicycles, like the Chain of Rocks in St. Louis, but the railroad has fought that proposal vigorously.  That kinda angers me, because I love to ride my bike.  When I lived in Jackson I used to commute 20 miles each way to work by bike and absolutely loved doing it.  I tried to do it here, once, but these hills are just a bit too extreme.  It'd sure be nice to bike across that bridge and ride around the Louisiana flatlands once in a while.

I don't know if you're familiar with Vicksburg, but when I tried to scope a bike route for commuting to work, I realized that to get from the East Clay Street area, where I work, to the rest of Vicksburg, you have to go through the I-20 Clay Street interchange.  There is no other route from one part of town to the other without a lengthy detour.

[cjk374]

The KCS is looking at the guaranteed possibility of moronic jack-wagons walking on the railroad part, vandals, and (believe it or not) the possibility of a terrorist attack.  It's the only RR bridge over the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and Memphis, and they want to protect it.

[berberry]

The KCS is looking at the guaranteed possibility of moronic jack-wagons walking on the railroad part, vandals, and (believe it or not) the possibility of a terrorist attack.  It's the only RR bridge over the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and Memphis, and they want to protect it.

This is the standard argument vs the project, but it ignores the actual proposals.  Nothing I've read about calls for anything less than a thick, tightly-meshed fence between the road and rr track. 

And as far as a terrorist attack is concerned - please!  I hear that one all the time from people who watch too much teevee (not that that's you, my friend, but you are the one who brought it up.)

Look, any public facility associated with people and commerce is a potential terror target.  I refuse to live my life as though a bomb might explode at any moment.  If this is what KCS is worried about then screw 'em - let them build their own bridge. 

Build the park, I say!   

[cjk374]

The sad part though...it's not from too much TV that I brought it up.  The Dept. of Homeland Security (for what it's worth...another topic for another place  ) has been training all of us railroaders about such a threat.  That's where I got it from.  I really hate that that's the case, but it's now part of our crazy 3rd rock from the sun.  

[berberry]

The sad part though...it's not from too much TV that I brought it up.  The Dept. of Homeland Security (for what it's worth...another topic for another place  ) has been training all of us railroaders about such a threat.  That's where I got it from.  I really hate that that's the case, but it's now part of our crazy 3rd rock from the sun. 

Oh, I have no problem with preparedness; that's DOHS's job, and it's great they're apparently doing it.  By all means be prepared, and have a plan in case something happens.  But I refuse to make any sort of lifestyle adjustments based on threat of an attack, unless of course there's reason to believe something is imminent.

[golden eagle]

When I drove through MS on I-20 today, I saw some MDOT surveyors out in the median around Morton and 3 miles east of Morton.  Would they be widening it to 6 lanes out that far? it's a good 20 miles past the last bit of 6 lane widening they are working on now.

Likely, they're doing the same thing they've done in Vicksburg and on a few stretches along 20 toward Jackson.  They survey and mark locations in various ways, leave, then soon return and build buffer fences along each set of lanes.  I'd look for those fences near Morton within a month or so, based on what you've described.

I wonder if that's what they're clear-cutting the trees between Pearson Road & Airport Road for.

[golden eagle]

As I understand it, clearing is underway for part of the port connector.

The I-10/110 interchange is currently in the environmental study phase.  MDOT's STIP includes ROW acquistion, but no construction, through 2013.

I've also heard that they're looking to fund a third interstate between I-10 and U.S. 90? Any truth to this?

A few years back, there was a proposal for an interstate to built from Gulfport to Jackson to parallel U.S. 49. This was before Katrina struck and given the state of the economy these days, I don't where that project stands.

[berberry]

I wonder if that's what they're clear-cutting the trees between Pearson Road & Airport Road for.

No, or at least it's not the main project.  They're widening to six lanes from Pearson to Crossgates.  MDOT has a press release on their website from (I think) about a month and a half ago.  Says the project should take two years, and I wonder if that means it'll be done in the same style as I-55 through Ridgeland - a quick job without upgrades to the shoulders, leaving them rather inadequate.