Vicksburg officials received two bids for widening the intersection of Clay Street and Mission 66 Tuesday.

A third, from Dirtwork Inc., was rejected because it came in after the 9:30 a.m. deadline.

The lower bid, $486,789.57 from J.B. Talley & Co. Inc. of Jackson, came well within the $720,000 budgeted for the project, said Public Works Director James “Bubba” Rainer.

The other bid, for $539,523.95, came from APAC Mississippi Inc., of Jackson. A contract likely will be awarded at a meeting within the next few weeks.

The money will come from the city’s casino impact fee fund.

“It’s just obvious something needs to be done there,” Rainer said. “We’ve had several cases of people’s mirrors being knocked off.”

The lanes are only 9 feet wide at the intersection, he said, where with the addition of left-turn lanes, roadways wide enough for four lanes instead have been made into five. After the expansion, the lanes will be 12 feet wide.

In other business, the city:

Approved funds for a topographical survey of the area between St. Paul Catholic Church and Washington Street. The city hired Jackson architects Weatherford & McDade Ltd. to design a retaining wall and parking lot in the area. The survey is expected to cost about $4,500.