A long-awaited $212 million project begins on MS 57. Here’s a map of the bypass route

Mary Perez
·4 min read
2

It’s been talked about for 20 years and finally work is under way this week to widen Mississippi 57 in Jackson County and build a bypass around traffic in Vancleave.

On Wednesday drivers got the first real indication the $212.6 million project has launched.

Crews began clearing a swath of trees on the west side of 57, starting near The Shed restaurant and heading north.

The plan is to build two more lanes to make Highway 57 a four-lane highway from I-10 to Gautier-Vancleave Road.

From there, a new four-lane highway will swing west of town and continue to the Lake O’ Pines area, taking the highway around the schools and business traffic through Vancleave.

The five-year project will continue into 2027, under the contract awarded by Mississippi Department of Transportation to W.G. Yates & Sons.

This map from MDOT shows the path of the MS 57 bypass to the west of Vancleave. The highway will swing west at Gautier-Vancleave Road and continue to north of the stadium, with exits along the way.
This map from MDOT shows the path of the MS 57 bypass to the west of Vancleave. The highway will swing west at Gautier-Vancleave Road and continue to north of the stadium, with exits along the way.

The plan

Traffic will continue to use the current highway while construction is in progress.

“Crews will be working on the widening portion of the project between I-10 and Gautier Vancleave Road first,” said Anna Ehrgott, public information officer for MDOT.

“Currently, trees are being cleared in that area to make room for the new lanes ,” she said. “Two new southbound lanes will be constructed in the area. Once the southbound lanes are complete, traffic will be shifted to the new lanes in a head-to-head configuration while crews rehabilitate the northbound lanes.”

Heavy equipment clears trees to allow for construction of another two lanes of Highway 57 near The Shed restaurant. An RV park adjacent to the Shed was reduced in size to accommodate the new highway leading to Vancleave.
Heavy equipment clears trees to allow for construction of another two lanes of Highway 57 near The Shed restaurant. An RV park adjacent to the Shed was reduced in size to accommodate the new highway leading to Vancleave.

She said the bypass will become State Route 57 when the work is done and the existing route through Vancleave will get a new name.

The map provided by MDOT shows exits will be built from the bypass to the current road to allow drivers to use just part of the new road to get around town if they choose.

Traffic coming down Old River Road and Poticaw Bayou Road will be able to cross the current Highway 57 and directly access the bypass, eliminating a major bottleneck.

The northern section of the Vancleave bypass shows how traffic on Poticaw Bayou Road will be able to directly access the new road. The bypass opens land north of town to residential development, since those who work at the shipyards and along the Coast will be able to avoid traffic jams in Vancleave.
The northern section of the Vancleave bypass shows how traffic on Poticaw Bayou Road will be able to directly access the new road. The bypass opens land north of town to residential development, since those who work at the shipyards and along the Coast will be able to avoid traffic jams in Vancleave.

Why Vancleave?

“It’s been a long time coming and I’m glad to see it’s happening,” said Jackson County Supervisor Randy Bosarge, who represents Vancleave south of Jim Ramsay Road.

“The main purpose of this road is for an evacuation road north,” Bosarge said.

The only other four-lane, north-south road in the county is Mississippi 63 north of Moss Point and Pascagoula, he said, and more capacity is needed to move people quickly off the Coast when a hurricane approaches.

Bosarge said he also expects the bypass will improve safety and create business opportunities in Vancleave.

Highway 57 is the “main street” through Vancleave, with no alternate route to get through town.

Five schools — Vancleave High School, Middle School, Upper Elementary, Lower Elementary and Jackson County Vocational Center — are packed in 1.5 miles along the highway, creating traffic snarls during the morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up of students.

This view of the southern section of the Vancleave bypass shows how traffic on MS 57 will travel west of the current highway through the middle of town. Exits and connection to current roads will give drivers several ways to get off the bypass and go to stores and schools.
This view of the southern section of the Vancleave bypass shows how traffic on MS 57 will travel west of the current highway through the middle of town. Exits and connection to current roads will give drivers several ways to get off the bypass and go to stores and schools.

The town has just two traffic lights, both north of the schools and the main business district, and frequent accidents occur as drivers pull out of businesses and onto the highway.

“Once it’s complete, it’s going to move traffic flow in and around Vancleave,” Bosarge said of the bypass.

He sees an opportunity for small businesses to locate along the new road once the frontages are established, he said.

The bypass also opens land north of town to residential development, since those who work at the shipyards and other areas along the Coast will be able to quickly get to I-10 and avoid traffic jams in Vancleave.

This map shows how the bypass will be built west of the business areas and schools in Vancleave.
This map shows how the bypass will be built west of the business areas and schools in Vancleave.

A long time to get here

In June 2005, just two months before Hurricane Katrina, MDOT invited residents to a meeting at the Vancleave Library and presented three possible routes for widening Mississippi 57.

At that time the project was estimated to cost between $35 million and $75 million, according to an article in the Sun Herald. Once a route was selected, officials said, construction could begin in three years.

In 2009, the Sun Herald reported that property owners would be contacted the following summer with offers, as the state began to buy 425 individual pieces of land to the west of Vancleave as right-of-way for the Mississippi 57 bypass. Work was projected to start in 2012.

In 2017, MDOT said the Vancleave bypass was on hold. The state was buying the last of the rights-of-way and moving utilities, but the project had no money slated for construction.

In December 2022, MDOT Commissioner Tom King said is a press release that work would begin in the spring on a $212.6 million project to grade, drain, bridge and pave approximately nine miles of State Route 57 from I-10 to Vancleave.

Heavy equipment clears trees to allow for construction of another two lanes of Highway 57 near The Shed restaurant. An RV park adjacent to the Shed was reduced in size to accommodate the new highway leading to Vancleave.
Heavy equipment clears trees to allow for construction of another two lanes of Highway 57 near The Shed restaurant. An RV park adjacent to the Shed was reduced in size to accommodate the new highway leading to Vancleave.