Howard Avenue temporarily paved for Mardi Gras

As the ‘Restore Biloxi Infrastructure’ plan still continues some wonder if there’s an end in sight. With some of the biggest parades on the Coast taking center stage in Biloxi, some wonder if construction may cause an issue.

Lingering construction adding frustration for drivers in downtown Biloxi, but when will it end? With no official end date in sight for the completion of the infrastructure project, the city knew that had to find a quick fix, leading them to pave a stretch of Howard Avenue. Vincent Creel with the City of Biloxi said, “Our big thing right now was get it ready for Mardi Gras, get that route ready. People say ‘what about us everyday people?’ This is a special community event where we have 50,000 to 80,000 people and we told our contractors do whatever you have to do to have that temporary paving there and they’ve done that.”

However, the city says it’s not permanent. The construction isn’t just difficult on drivers, but businesses like Burger, Burger. They sit directly in the middle of the construction site. Owner Martha Ebberman says it did hurt her business, however, the extra work of late has really helped her out. “This has been almost a year now and it had affected our business, but these people here have really worked and worked hard to get it finished and they’ve been really good to me.”

It was here two years ago where an Ocean Springs man was killed after falling off of his float and landing on a piece of rebar. Parade safety is a huge point of emphasis for the City of Biloxi, especially when construction is involved. “The city has walked the site for the Neptune Parade as well as Gulf Coast Carnival. The contractors have also looked at the sites. Where we have a piece of equipment, we will also have an officer nearby.”

Barricades will also be put up to protect parade-goers along the routes.