Howard Avenue closer to completion

Howard Avenue is now one step closer to being completed after crews begin laying down bricks for the road.

The $1.93 million project started in April and has gone as planned so far.

In the 1970s, the City of Biloxi attempted to transform Howard Avenue into an outdoor mall, narrowing the road to one lane.

This project will bring two lanes back to the historic downtown area with hopes of increasing development and activity.

The few businesses left along Howard Avenue are hopeful the project will bring life back to the area. Business owner Jean McGrury said, “There are very few businesses down here so when Mayor FoFo mentioned taking it back to two lanes I was all for it. For number one, there will be more parking. People get confused when it’s a one-way street and don’t know what do. Hopefully, it will revitalize this downtown area which would bring in more businesses and more of a community.”

The stretch of road is expected to be open to traffic by the end of October.