HATTIESBURG, MS — Commissioner Charles Busby, Southern Transportation District, announces updates to several Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) projects in south Mississippi.
“Infrastructure projects across southeast Mississippi are making steady progress,” Busby said. “From widening highways to adding new signage and resurfacing roads, these projects help protect the people who travel our state’s roadways and represent an investment in safer communities and stronger connections.”
Crews have made headway on a major project to widen I-10 from four to six lanes from Diamondhead to County Farm Road in Harrison and Hancock counties. The scope of work also includes technological upgrades and the construction of a multi-use path and a noise barrier wall near the Diamondhead exit. Paving is nearly complete in the new lane on the westbound side, and on the eastbound side, paving is ongoing and stone base placement is almost finished. Two of the three bridges within the project area have now been widened, and all beams have been placed on the Wolf River bridge. All bridge widening work should be complete by the end of the year, possibly sooner. The $155 million contract was awarded to Huey P. Stockstill, LLC of Picayune, Mississippi, and is expected to be completed in 2027.
Work is currently ahead of schedule on a massive $212.6 million project to widen and create a new, four-lane alignment on approximately 9 miles of State Route 57 from I-10 to Vancleave in Jackson County. Earthwork and drainage installations are underway at the Gautier Vancleave Road interchange and the 57 Connector interchange. Several of the 13 bridges are now complete, and all others are under construction. Stone base is being placed in various locations in preparation for upcoming paving. Before the end of the year, crews plan to swap traffic onto a portion of new alignment from I-10 to just north of Humphrey Road. The project was awarded to W.G. Yates and Sons Construction Company of Jackson, Mississippi, and is expected to wrap up in 2027.
A $66.7 million safety improvement project is ongoing in Forrest and Jones counties on I-59 from the Lamar County line to just south of Moselle. Crews are rubblizing existing pavement in the northbound lanes between U.S. 49 and the Bouie River. A final lift of asphalt has been placed in the northbound and southbound lanes from McPhail Road to the northern end of the project. Before the project is complete, a layer of Open-Graded Friction Course will be applied to the entire project. This project was awarded to Dunn Roadbuilders of Laurel, Mississippi, and is expected to be completed in summer 2026.
