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Letters to the Editor

A seawall could stop two dangers

The land alongside a seven-step protection seawall completed in the late 1920s eventually became this four-lane road. Seawalls were constructed in all three Coast counties. Today, many of the steps are covered by sand or a topped by a boardwalk.
The land alongside a seven-step protection seawall completed in the late 1920s eventually became this four-lane road. Seawalls were constructed in all three Coast counties. Today, many of the steps are covered by sand or a topped by a boardwalk. The Paul Jermyn Collection

I have to travel U.S. 90 on the beach every day to work and back. Harrison County can kill two birds with one stone by building a 3-foot-high seawall on the south edge of the sidewalk where the sea is wide open, adjacent to the highway.

Much too often the sand blows onto the road, which makes travel almost impossible. Two times in five days the beach has found its way onto the highway. The money spent cleaning the road and replacing the sand on the beach would surely pay for construction in short order.

Visitors and locals alike would not be in danger of getting into an accident either from sand or drivers distracted by the beach. Yes it’s beautiful, but you should pull over and enjoy it from one of the plenty of parking spaces.

The sand would be much more contained and easily raked back in place without all the maintenance and overhead. City and county officials, just a tad of common sense will take us far and keep more dollars in the budget, helping to keep taxes down.

Malcolm McBee

Gulfport

This story was originally published May 10, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "A seawall could stop two dangers."

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