Public Notice: Old Fort Bayou Boat Ramp repairs to the Hurricane Nate damaged bulkhead to begin on August 5, 2020 and last approximately 60 days. Boaters and fisherman may experience intermittent closures as Jackson County Contractor, Walters Diving and Marine makes repairs to the damaged bulkhead and roadway.
The project will repair the bulkhead along the access road on the east side of the Washington Ave/Hwy 609 Bridge for the Old Fort Bayou Boat Launch and will begin on August 5, 2020. Please see attached map for the detailed location of the project area. Damage to the bulkhead was caused during Hurricane Nate in October 2017, and the project is being partially funded by FEMA. During the Project, sections of boat trailer parking spaces along the access road will be blocked off to make the repairs, and then temporarily surfaced with crushed stone. There may be instances when the access road will be closed completely to make the repairs. If road closures are needed, they will likely be temporary during the day but if necessary could cause the road to be closed for a few days. It is the intention of Jackson County and Walters Diving and Marine to perform the needed work and have the boat launch open each weekend throughout the project, but if circumstances warrant, the boat launch could be closed over the weekends as well. The project is expected to take up to 60 days to complete. When all repairs to the bulkheads have been made the access road will be repaved with asphalt and boat trailer parking spaces re-striped along the access road in the same configuration as there now.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to the public, but these repairs are much needed to ensure the continued use of the very popular Old Fort Bayou Boat Launch. We would like to remind the public that there are many other boat launches along the Gulf Coast for their use. These other boat launches can be located by viewing the MDMR’s Public Access website at https://gis.dmr.ms.gov/PublicAccess/. For any questions about the project please call Matthew Hosey, Jackson County Project Manager at (228) 769-3088.