The Ocean Springs Board of Aldermen and mayor have submitted an application to the DMR for a multi-million dollar project to cover East Beach with a 10-foot-wide concrete sidewalk. This project threatens the natural beauty and ecological balance of our beloved beach. Concrete sidewalks can lead to increased runoff and erosion and are generally aesthetically unpleasant. There are no plans for parking on the narrow East Beach Drive, and no plans are being made for long-term maintenance issues, such as we are seeing on Front Beach. Additionally, this costly project does not reflect the community's desire for sustainable development and maintaining the charm of a small coastal town with a nice sandy beach.
Ocean Springs Alderman Ken Papania (Ward 4), along with Mayor Holloway and Alderman Rickey Authement (Ward 2), are proposing to construct a 10-foot-wide, 5,730-foot-long, and approximately 57,300-square-foot concrete sidewalk down the entirety of East Beach. The city's permit application to the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources states that the sidewalk is being built to address ongoing safety issues on East Beach Drive, particularly in regards to pedestrians, bikers, joggers, etc. However, there does not appear to be a single reported incident in recent history, much less a fatal one, indicating the opposite of City Leadership's assertion that East Beach Drive is dangerous. Statistically speaking, this road may be among the safest in the city.
From an aesthetic standpoint, most can agree that a ten-foot-wide concrete sidewalk is not appealing to the eye, especially compared to a white sandy beach overlooking the Mississippi Sound and Deer Island. As anyone who has been to East Beach knows, it is not a particularly wide beach area, especially at high tide. A ten-foot-wide concrete sidewalk will take up anywhere from a third to, at times, half of the beach
The City's plan fails to consider anything for additional parking for those traveling from other parts of the city or neighboring coastal communities. There is currently no room for parking unless cars park on the north side of the road, in the front yards of East Beach residents, thereby making traffic flow problems worse and potentially resulting in a less safe roadway, as pedestrians will be crossing the road constantly to get from their cars to the beach
Failure to accurately calculate the cost of the project, currently estimated to be at least 1 million dollars, is another concern regarding this project. The Board of Aldermen and Mayor have failed to offer any insight into their methodology, which led them to the proposed 1 million dollar cost. There are no detailed construction quotes, no plans for if the project runs out of money, no long-term plans for bonding the sidewalk, and absolutely nothing of substance
Maintenance issues will surely arise rather quickly if the sidewalk construction is completed. All one has to do is look at the sidewalk on Front Beach right now, covered in traffic cones, construction signs, portable toilets, and a substantial concrete ditch that had to be dug for drainage reasons, taking up even more of the beach. On Front Beach, there are now currently areas with little to no beach left. Following the construction of the Front Beach sidewalk, erosion ensued and has rapidly continued, as tends to happen when concrete is placed on top of sand that is fully submerged in water several times a year (high tide and storm season)
What we want:
Eliminate this project entirely or substantially reduce the width of the sidewalk