Growth seen throughout the City of D’Iberville

D’Iberville has grown faster than any other city on the Mississippi Gulf Coast since 2010.

City leaders say they are investing millions in roads and utilities to keep that growth from outpacing the city’s infrastructure.

Justin Glowacki with the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center breaks down the projects the city believes will help shape their future.

For many people, D’Iberville’s growth is hard to miss. More traffic, more businesses, and more people have become part of everyday life.

Since 2010, the city’s population has grown by more than 4,000 residents, the fastest percentage growth among Mississippi Gulf Coast municipalities.

City Manager Bobby Weaver says keeping infrastructure ahead of that growth has become one of the city’s biggest priorities. “All of the sewer north of I-10 goes north, portion of the sewer just south of I-10 goes north, so we have just freed up a ton of capacity to support any development along the waterfront.”

A nearly 8-million-dollar sewer project is nearing completion. Weaver says it redirects wastewater through a new system, reducing pressure on older lines while creating capacity for future waterfront development.

For shoppers like William Batson, though, growth is most noticeable on the roads. “The traffic (can) be so congested. As you can see right now, it’s very congested. I mean, everybody getting off work, but still, it’d be congested even on people’s off days.”

To help ease congestion, the city is moving forward with improvements along Mallett Road and Lamey Bridge Road.

Officials recently secured a 5-million-dollar federal BUILD grant for the Mallett Road project, and utility relocation is already underway.

Looking ahead, Weaver says the city expects future growth to come from commercial and waterfront development. “Biggest growth is going to be the commercial, waterfront, commercial corridor, things like that.”

Weaver says the goal is simple: have roads, utilities and other infrastructure in place before the next wave of development arrives.

City leaders are also pursuing a marina expansion along the waterfront and continue working with developers on several proposed commercial projects, including a BJ’s Wholesale Club and Miss Kelly’s Furniture.