[01/09/02]Using signs to steer visitors into Vicksburg at I-20’s Washington Street exit could bring 200,000 to 900,000 more people through the heart of the city, Eric Biedenharn, told about 60 people at a hearing Tuesday night.

Biedenharn, chairman of the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau board, said the route, which would terminate at the main entrance to the Vicksburg National Military Park, could be marked and ready this spring.

Most of the people at the meeting are connected to the tourism industry and said they supported the overall idea. Some questioned details of the route that would go through residential neighborhoods and commercial areas.

“The problem is the route seems to lose the entire idea and that is for commercial business,” said Ted Mackey, owner of Cedar Grove Bed and Breakfast.

Mackey and others also questioned whether adding traffic to residential areas along Drummond and Cherry streets is a good idea.

Biedenharn suggested the route as a method of enticing more of the 1 million visitors the national military park receives annually to see the city’s other attractions. The official exit for the 102-year-old Civil War park is on Clay Street and it is possible to leave Interstate 20, tour the park and return to the highway without seeing any of the city.

Mayor Laurence Leyens said he had met with representatives from those neighborhood associations that would be affected and had gotten no negative feedback to the idea.

“The idea is we’re going to get people into the town and hopefully they will spend some money,” Biedenharn said.

The proposed route would direct visitors north on Washington, east on Confederate Avenue and north on Mulvihill to Drummond. Traffic then would be guided on Cherry Street to Clay to Washington to Grove and to the Old Court House Museum. Visitors would be directed past Anchuca and Duff Green bed and breakfast inns and Walnut Hills restaurant before returning to Clay, headed for the park.

The drive takes about 30 minutes and is being called the “Scenic Mississippi River Route to the Vicksburg National Military Park.”

“Make sure the park visitors understand that when they take the scenic route it will take them longer,” said Park Superintendent Bill Nichols.

Biedenharn also presented a proposed second route. The second path would send visitors farther down Washington Street to the Garden District and along the Mississippi River.

The amount of traffic expected to increase in the city is based on the number of visitors each year at the park who have said in surveys that they would like to see more of Vicksburg. Biedenharn said that about 33 percent who filled out the questionnaire at the park indicated interests to visit other parts of the city.

“We’ve got a big problem, but we’ve also got a big opportunity,” Biedenharn said.

Additional public meetings concerning the proposed route will be scheduled later. A tentative date has been set for Feb. 19.