The City is proposing a re-design of the main 4-lane north/south artery of our city's traffic into a 2-lanes from Tucker Avenue south to Beach Blvd with roundabouts at Polk and Ingalls intersections and parallel parking in front of some businesses with additional parking in some medians.  I can tell you that 1 lane and a "bus/carpool lane" in front of Beach Elementary will not work.  Carpool backs up to the American Legion just south of Parsley Avenue, and there would be no room in one lane for the carpool cars, busses to pass cars in the carpool line and regular traffic to flow.  It would also be a nightmare to leave that carpool lane to enter back into traffic on Market Street.

So much is wrong with the whole concept.  Like, did they even take into consideration the amount of traffic during Hurricane Evacuations?  Special Events held at our Beach Park every year like Sounds by the Sea, 4th of July Fireworks.  How about our commercial fishermen and recreational boaters who use Market Street to pull their 30+ feet vessels?  Not to mention the two schools located on this street with pedestrian traffic, along with events held at the Family Interactive Center.  

This is just another great example of tax dollars being spent on engineering, concept design and proposed drawings before even taking into consideration the taxpayers' opinions, needs and wants. Public hearings should be the initial step before any money is spent. Exactly how much money did the city pay for the Riverfront development drawings/concept/plans? How about the Sportsplex concept? What sits on the riverfront today other than the parking garage to no where? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that no one would want to locate/relocate their business or office right next door to the sewage treatment plant and away from any traffic.

Let's talk feasibility: One southbound and one northbound lane of traffic for Market Street? REALLY?? There are two schools on Market Street. Pascagoula High School boasts hundreds of students, most who drive their own vehicles to and from school every day, and a lot who walk. Although Market St north of Tucker will be 4 lanes, anyone leaving PHS heading south will hit 1 lane traffic. Beach Elementary is also located on Market Street. I've sat in that carpool line, that takes up a lane of traffic, 5 days a week for the last 5 years except for the summer months. There is NO WAY one South bound lane would work for carpool and regular traffic. Our kids who walk to Dolphin South and beyond cross the street and head north which causes traffic to swerve and use the left lane of the street because there aren't any sidewalks.  I really do love the idea of having sidewalks and making Market Street more pedestrian/bicycle friends, but you cannot take 2 lanes of traffic to achieve it.

Small Business: I am a frequent customer of Crazy B's on Market Street. It really does NOT make any sense to have to park in the median and cross traffic, which will no doubt be congested in the morning/afternoon, with children in tow. Same scenario for Anderson's Bakery. These businesses have inadequate parking as it is causing them to lose business when customers have no where to park. It is unfair to place the burden of paving parking lots behind the businesses on the small business owners because the city is taking away their spots. Would you do the same to the potential Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market? How much business do you think Wal-Mart would get if it's parking lot sat on the West side of Market St while the actual store with little or no parking sat on the East? This design concept hurts small business.  If the City thinks that this redesigning will bring new business to fill vacant properties, they better be prepared to add see more vacant buildings when existing small businesses close their doors.

Aesthetics are very important to a City when bringing in new business, but aesthetically pleasing designs that don't function will only cause mass frustrations and higher traffic on smaller roads that run north/south, like Williams Street, where I live. Drivers will start to avoid the turnabouts and traffic backups and speed through neighborhood streets like mine to get to where there are going quicker.

Homeowners: Would you want to look out from your beach-view home into a parking lot median every day? Or listen to car doors slamming, radios blaring or people hanging out at all hours of the night from your bedroom? I wouldn't. There is adequate parking at Beach Park for anyone wanting to enjoy our beach, along with the fact that most of the amenities are located at Beach Park, which is where all of the events happen that bring in a larger crowd. For those that want to park and walk or jog, there are areas that were once used to park on the West end of Beach Blvd, but now they sit empty because they are barricaded by posts.

Market Street SHOULD BE revitalized and maintained, but not totally redesigned to be a traffic nightmare. If the City has money burning a hole in its pocket, I would suggest that they pay into the City's JCUA debt, which the citizens and business owners of Pascagoula have now been forced to absorb.