Construction crews are set to return to Bay St. Louis's bayfront boardwalk on Nov. 7, picking back up on a project that will stretch the accessible walkway more than 500 feet along the city's scour pad. The second half of phase two is expected to take about six months and will extend the boardwalk from Demontluzin Avenue to Ulman Avenue, giving residents and visitors a continuous path along the water.
The resumption date comes from RHCJC, which reported that the boardwalk is being completed in four phases, with phase one and part of phase two already finished. Jason Chiniche, principal engineer at Chiniche Engineering and Surveying, said the boardwalk idea first arose during the pandemic, and the project gained fresh momentum earlier this year after what he described as ongoing challenges in securing funding.
The walkway is being built atop part of the seawall's scour pad, a thick concrete slab originally meant to protect the shoreline from storm surges rather than serve as a public path. For years, local residents simply used it as an informal walkway anyway. Chiniche said the slab does not meet ADA cross-slope standards, and the new boardwalk is designed to provide the accessible route the scour pad never could.
A Long-Delayed Fix for an Old Accessibility Gap
Concerns about accessibility at the scour pad are not new. Discussions about making it ADA-compliant date back to 2016 under then-Mayor Les Fillingame, when a WLOX report described the slab as one of the busiest spots in the city for walkers and joggers despite falling short of ADA standards. That same 2016 report estimated an earlier version of the boardwalk proposal, reaching Demontluzin Avenue, would cost about $300,000 and take roughly 45 days to build if tidelands funding came through at its usual level.
A decade later, the funding picture looks different. The Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund has provided $500,000 toward the current boardwalk project, while Gulf Coast restoration funds contributed $1.3 million, according to figures reported by RHCJC. Separately, a Bay St. Louis City Council agenda from Dec. 2, 2025, shows a motion to award David Rush Construction a contract worth $1,251,490.50 for the downtown ADA Boardwalk project, as recorded on the city's meeting portal. A separate account of an Aug. 5 city meeting, reported by citizenportal.ai, described two state CapEx grants totaling $450,000 and a further $500,000 federal/state grant tied to a boardwalk ADA phase, though it is not established whether those figures describe the same funding package as the contract award.
What's Coming in Later Phases
Chiniche Engineering and Surveying has already completed an ADA-accessible beach ramp and boardwalk section ending at Demontluzin Avenue, and the firm worked with city officials to secure funding for the stretch running from the harbor to Ulman Avenue. Per RHCJC, phase three calls for a small pier with ADA access to an existing beach fire pit, while phase four would ultimately connect the beach and the harbor. All four phases are expected to wrap by fall 2027.
The boardwalk will include steps down to nearby restaurants and businesses, along with benches, picnic tables and other amenities, and will offer views across the Bay of St. Louis. Chiniche Engineering and Surveying is using composite decking material, which Chiniche said lasts longer than typical timber deck boards, along with other durable materials meant to help the structure withstand seawater exposure and heavy foot traffic.
Residents Welcome the Change Amid a Busier Downtown
David Treutel, a longtime Bay St. Louis resident, said downtown has grown noticeably busier since the city recovered from Hurricane Katrina, with far more visitors than a decade or 15 years ago and weekend parking now stretching almost to the bridge. He said he welcomes the improved beach accessibility the boardwalk will bring. Kay Malone, who lives in Bay St. Louis during the winter, said it was her first time seeing the new boardwalk and suggested that additional space away from the road would make things safer for people walking dogs.
The growth Treutel described tracks with broader trends along the bayfront. New groups of visitors now arrive most weekends to patronize waterfront bars and restaurants, and the Sun Herald has reported that the resulting flood of visitors and money is helping revitalize Bay St. Louis two decades after Hurricane Katrina, with city leaders saying tourism dollars help keep taxes low while funding park and beachfront refurbishments.
The boardwalk fits into a larger wave of state-backed coastal investment. The Mississippi Legislature has appropriated more than $171 million for coastal projects using Gulf oil lease and state tidelands lease revenue, according to the Sun Herald's review of the funding list, which also includes $300,000 for municipal harbor beach amenities and improvements in Bay St. Louis and $2 million for a separate lighthouse boardwalk project in Biloxi. A similar wooden boardwalk south of Restaurant Row in West Biloxi, built with tidelands funds, has become a popular strolling spot, the outlet reported.
