KAFB, the VA Center, or the Federal Government owns or controls  most of the property between the KAFB base proper and Jim Money Road.  This means that any new North/South road that best serves the City is going to impact one of these two properties or property otherwise controlled by the Federal Government.

   However, the impact is minimal in as much as only a small corner of KAFB, a housing area, is effected .  It is understandable why KAFB would not want an elevated, six-lane, monstrosity across, on, or near their property such as was proposed by MDOT's representatives.

   But there is no indication that anyone in authority has approached KAFB  with a more practical road proposal that could be an enhancement to their properties by giving much better access  to and from KAFB.

  The possibility of problems with  I-110 should be a concern to KAFB as the base could be well served by another North/South route.  KAFB could be almost totally isolated from a large segment of  its military personnel and civilian employees, and patients who depend on its medical facilities would suffer if the highly vulnerable Popps Ferry Bridge had some incident, and if I-110 was closed.

    Good military planning necessitates another close by North/South route for KAFB. Hopefully,  at some point in time KAFB will come forward and join the City to develop a road plan that is good for both the City and KAFB. There are solutions for any concerns KAFB could have about a road being built close to the base.

    In the past, KAFB representives have voiced three primary reasons for its opposition to utilizing Rodenberg for the North/South route:

1)    KAFB’s first concern is that should Rodenberg became a major route, it could potentially cause the intersection of Rodenberg and Highway 90 to become very attractive to developers for a high rise casino site/hotel site similar to the Beau Rivage.  KAFB is concerned that the height of such buildings would interfere with their air missions.  However, since its reservations were expressed, Biloxi has passed a height restricting ordinance for that area prohibiting construction of a high-rise building that could interfere with flight operations at Keesler.

2)    Secondly, KAFB was concerned that a high rise bridge that would be built close to KAFB as a result of the Cedar Lake/Rodenberg route would be a security threat to KAFB and its aircraft from its possible utilization as a platform from which attacks could be perpetrated.  This concern can also be alleviated by bridge design and by placing barriers on the bridge that would make it impossible to use to threaten KAFB or its aircraft.  An alternative would be to build the elevated section of the bridge on the north side of the bay and dredge a new channel on that side for barge traffic. Bridge or no bridge, KAFB and its aircraft are vulnerable from the existing I-110 bridge, Irish Hill, and other areas which are adjacent to KAFB.

3)    The third concern of KAFB expressed several years ago concerned a loss of housing. However, that should no longer an issue as Keesler is planning to privatize much of its housing. And additionally, the base has removed a considerable number of its housing units that do not meet its housing requirements, especially in a housing complex on the east side of the base, freeing land that could be used to replace housing lost if a new bridge was constructed at Rodenberg. And since Hurricane Katrina, the base has demolished almost all of the homes that would have been affected by the new bridge.

Today, with so many changes being made as a result of the Katrina disaster, there is the opportunity to fix Biloxi's long-term transportation problem right. Keesler will benefit from a new quick access bridge to the areas north of the bay, residents will have another route to evacuate the Biloxi Peninsula, and congestion on the busy U.S. 90 will have another quick route to what has become the Coast's East-West corridor, that is, I-10.

Now that the issue is about a much more modest ground level road and bridge connection, rather than an elevated expressway, this should further lessen Keesler's objections.

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