Page 18 - South Mississippi Living - November, 2017

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gets a facelift
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Just to name a few
date of summer of 2018, and in the meantime will remain open to serve the public. The Courthouse
Road Merchants Association was formed to keep that positive message in the forefront.
“We’ve talked about starting an association for years,” Ferrell Alman, spokesman for the group and owner of S.F. Alman, Ltd., said. “We’ve banded together to let people know we’re open for business, and we’ll continue to promote the area after the project is complete.”
Kim Riley, owner of Riley’s Children’s Shop, said, “We want to make sure people know we’re open throughout the project. We’re here and ready for the holidays.”
According to City Engineer Kris Riemann, the scope of the project includes reconstruction from Highway 90 to Pass Road with paving, raised medians, sidewalks, sub-surface drainage, lighting and installation of traffic signals. Cost of the project is $5,406,560.00 with Pickering Construction as the contractor. This amount includes federal funds to be paid by the
Federal Highway Administration/Mississippi Department of Transportation through Gulf Regional Planning Commission. The city’s share is 20 percent of the total project cost.
The street will be two lanes in each direction with a continuous 10-foot wide multi-use path for walkers and bicycles on the east side. There will be a pedestrian crossing signal at 33rd Street for Gulfport High School students.
Some residents remember the street as a dirt road, Alman says. The county courthouse was located just off Highway
90 and the street was the center of commerce. “It was a neighborhood thoroughfare, then it was paved and four laned to become the new downtown because it had a lot of traffic,” he said. “It is still a road of importance so it must have improvements from time to time. With the new look, it will be downtown 2.0.”
The association meets with the city every two weeks and holds their own meetings afterwards. In addition to retail businesses, Courthouse Road is home to banks, salons, medical and dental practices, restaurants, a church and a U.S. Post Office.
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Historic Courthouse Road
G ulfport’s historic Courthouse Road is getting a facelift. Businesses along the busy corridor look forward to the estimated construction completion
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story by Lynn Lofton
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