“The end of the road,” the Sardis Lake access point located just past the end of Mississippi Highway 314, will soon be more easily accessible, thanks to the ongoing construction of a gravel parking lot.
The Vicksburg District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction on the lot in March. According to park ranger Chris Gurner, most of the work is clearing out small trees and leveling the ground in preparation for putting down a gravel base for the parking lot.
“There were some small trees that had grown up through the area, restricting site access to the lake and growing up in paths where people often drove,” Gurner said.
Previously, the beach began right where the road ends, and vehicles had to drive between the trees onto uneven sand to access the lake. This made access limited at times to certain vehicles.
“It’s going to make a safer access for people to get in there,” Gurner said. “If it was wet, the area was very muddy, very rutted, and people had a hard time getting down there, yet they’d still try to get in the area with small cars and weren’t able to do so.”
The parking lot was expected to be complete by the beginning of the summer, but the weather has lengthened the construction process. According to Gurner, the lake level rose to about 8 feet above the normal level this spring, which pushed water into the area where the construction of the parking lot was being done.
“That kind of hampered us from being able to do work for a while until we were able to draw some of that water off the area and dry it out so we could get the equipment in there,” Gurner said.
In addition to providing more consistent access to the lake, Gurner said he hopes the parking lot will help keep the lake clean.
“I think that’s one of the biggest benefits,” Gurner said. “I think the public will see a cleaner place, and I think they’ll enjoy the more consistent access, where they’re not worrying about tearing up their car or getting stuck out in the area.”
After the construction of the parking lot is complete, more gravel may need to be added, but it will require very little maintenance, Gurner said.
“That’s one area where we have had problems with vandalism in the past, so that will depend on what gets torn up in the area, but as far as the parking lot itself, very little upkeep,” Gurner said. “For the most part, it’s going to be maintenance-free, which is another benefit of it.”
