Widening Mississippi 22 between the Nissan plant under construction in Canton and suppliers in Warren County could help create high-paying jobs for Vicksburg, local officials said Saturday.

Comments by economic development and Warren County officials followed by one day action by the Madison County Board of Supervisors to adopt a resolution in support of widening the road from two to four lanes.

“One of the reasons these companies chose Vicksburg as a site is that we have an alternate route to Canton,” said Jimmy Heidel, Vicksburg-Warren Chamber of Commerce executive director. “If something happens on Interstate 20, they can still deliver their products on time, even if (Highway 22) is only two lanes.”

Heidel said widening the highway “makes sense.” He said an alternate route between Warren County and Canton would help the industrial park at Ceres where Nissan suppliers Calsonic Kansei opened Oct. 17 and Yorozu Automotive Mississippi is building a plant.

“This will give Vicksburg more opportunities to create additional high-paying jobs for citizens,” Heidel said.

Mississippi 22, running through north Hinds County, is about 35 miles long between Canton and the Edwards exit of Interstate 20 and runs through the town of Flora. From the Edwards exit, the distance is about three miles to Ceres on I-20.

Don Brown, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said the project has been discussed at meetings of the Chamber and the Alliance. The Alliance is a group of economic development, tourism, Chamber and government officials who identify priorities and communicate ideas for Vicksburg.

“Every year we make a trip to Washington to talk to our congressional delegates about the needs in our community,” Brown said. “This year, we are planning to talk about the four-laning of Mississippi 22.”

Brown said widening the highway is important for the Nissan suppliers in Warren County to do their work and for the Nissan plant’s employees to get to work in a timely manner.

Heidel said at recent Alliance meetings, the subject of Highway 22 has come up and has been met with “no objections whatsoever.”

Warren County Board of Supervisors president Richard George said he expects the local board to adopt a resolution similar to Madison’s soon after the first of the year.

“I suspect we’ll develop a plan to promote the idea once we have more information about funding for the project,” George said.

George said the project would be beneficial for a number of reasons.

“It will be especially beneficial from the commercial aspect, and people who travel Mississippi 22 for personal reasons will welcome the efforts to improve the road conditions.”

Calsonic Kansei specializes in exhaust systems for many of Nissan’s products and will truck them to the plant in Canton as well as Nissan plants in Tennessee and Mexico. The plant is expected to employ about 140 people.

Yorozu Automotive Mississippi is expected to offer 120 jobs. The plant will make suspension parts to be delivered to the Nissan line.