Highway 11. It’s one of the more traveled roads in Picayune and as such carries a large number of cars in and out of town.

With the influx of people just after Hurricane Katrina almost 10 years ago, it was also a virtual parking lot coming into Picayune for months.

Even though most of the congestion has waned, there is still a large amount of traffic that travels the local highway.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation has plans to widen a small section of the highway.

District 6 Construction Engineer Gabe Faggard said MDOT still has plans to widen the road. That project also entails the construction of a new bridge over the Hobolochitto Creek in Picayune.

These upgrades will entail improvements that will assist pedestrians, including sidewalks.

The widening work is still planned to take place from the entrance of Hide-A-Way Lake to the bridge over the Boley Creek, Faggard said.

As for the narrow bridge over the creek, it will be replaced with a better version. While it will still be two lanes wide, it will add a pedestrian friendly sidewalk. To keep traffic moving along the busy highway during construction, the new bridge will be built on the east side of the existing bridge, Faggard said.

Widening of the highway will also incorporate sidewalks, Faggard said.

The project is still in the design phase, so construction is not scheduled to begin until about 2017. Right of way acquisition is still being conducted as well. 

Once construction begin, Faggard estimates it will take between 18 to 24 months to complete the entire project.

The soon to be four lane highway will be divided by a median, with access points in key areas from the intersection of Miss. 43 N and U.S. 11 towards HAWL. From the intersection of Miss. 43 N and U.S. 11 towards the bridge, the four-lane highway will utilize a median combined with turn lanes to allow access to city roadways, Faggard said.