Two more I-10 overnight closures are planned as roadwork continues for new Buc-ee’s
Crews continue to build a new bridge over I-10 at Menge Avenue in Harrison County as traffic passes by. Now, though, two overnight road closures are needed.
The first closure will be Thursday, Feb. 15.
“This is going to close the west lanes overnight,” said Anna Ehrgott, public information officer for Mississippi Department of Transportation. While westbound lanes are closed, crews will be able to deliver and place concrete beams as well as perform bracing and install safety devices across the westbound lanes, she said.
The closure of all westbound lanes is scheduled from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Another overnight closure in the east lanes will follow in a couple of weeks, she said, The public will be notified of the date when it gets closer.
“We do it overnight to minimize traffic impacts,” she said.
Following the procedure used in the fall, traffic will be routed off the exit ramp and immediately back on the entrance ramp. While traffic doesn’t need to detour miles out of the way, it does slow down because the ramps are single lanes.
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Work on the $15 million interchange rebuild to accommodate Buc-ee’s Travel Center and other anticipated development started in July 2023 and the project is ahead of schedule, Ehrgott said.
The interchange project should be done in November, she said, and the bridge may be complete before then.
“It will open up in tandem with Buc-ee’s,” she said.
At the September 2023 groundbreaking for the $50 million Buc-ee’s travel center, the estimated opening date was in early 2025. That since has been moved up to be open by Thanksgiving.
Harrison County is paying for the rebuild and MDOT is coordinating the work. Neel-Schaffer engineering was hired to oversee the bridge project and Michael Baker International to manage road construction that will lead to the massive Buc-ee’s and other development to follow.
This story was originally published February 13, 2024 at 12:10 PM.
