Work to widen Highway 11 in Picayune between Lakeshore Drive and Cayten Street concluded less than a month ago, but Mississippi Department of Transportation added one finishing touch recently, a no U-turn sign near Highland Community Hosptial.

On Tuesday Aug. 2, MDOT erected a no U-turn sign on Highway 11 at the emergency entrance to the local hospital across from Fatty’s Seafood Restaurant. Prior to the new sign being erected this location was a common place where motorists conducted a U-turn, at times causing traffic to back up in the adjacent lane.

Mississippi Department of Transportation Engineer Dexter Childs said the sign was installed there to deter drivers from using it as a turn around because that area has been designated for emergency vehicle use only. Childs said that area will be the only spot on Highway 11 with a no U-turn sign. To his knowledge there are no plans to add another along that route in the near future. That means U-turns can still be preformed at the intersections of Highway 11 and Highland Parkway, Highway 11 and Highway 43 North and Highway 11 and East Sycamore Road.

Phase two of the project is still estimated to begin as early as mid July or as late as the summer of 2024. Phase-two begin work where phase-one ended at Cayten Street to Fourth Street and include replacement of the bridge on Highway 11 that crosses the East Hobolochitto Creek.