[12/3/04]A multimillion-dollar project to improve Interstate 20 on Vicksburg’s perimeter is set to begin in the spring and take about a year and a half.

An $8.2 million contract for the work is expected to be awarded to APAC Mississippi at the next Transportation Commission meeting, on Dec. 14, said Walter Lyons, the Mississippi Department of Transportation district engineer.

It will include overlaying most of I-20, patching some concrete sections of the highway, removing fences and also repaving frontage roads.

“We’re going to cover most everything between the Washington exit and the U.S. 61 interchange,” Lyons said.

The road surface has been patched almost annually for years. Today, westbound lanes are cratered in several places with concrete chunks broken and askew.

Lyons said the work set to begin March 10 and finish in September 2006 will be done mostly at night to reduce traffic problems. At least one lane of traffic in each direction will also be left open during construction and all four lanes will be open between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, he said.

“There’s so much traffic out there during the daytime that if you closed a lane it would shut down the highway,” Lyons said.

The total project is along a 10.9-mile stretch of I-20 between the Mississippi River Bridge and Bovina.

MDOT will also award a separate contract on Dec. 14 to repair light fixtures and wiring along the interstate. Starting last year, the City of Vicksburg took over replacing light bulbs along I-20 in a deal with MDOT.

City officials said they wanted to take over the maintenance of the lights to ensure there would always be working lights on the interstate. MDOT still pays for the bulbs and supplies, and is funding the repair work.

Lyons said that project will cost $1 million, but should not interfere with traffic. It should be completed in about a year.

Although it is not an MDOT project, new sign posts began popping up this week along Interstate 20 that will hold new signs directing travelers to local restaurants, hotels and gas stations.

David Sanders of MDOT’s traffic engineering division said this is the first year they have allowed logo signs inside city limits along state maintained highways.

The signs are put up by a private company, Mississippi Logos of Madison, Miss., which manages logo signs across the state. Johnny Durrett with Mississippi Logos said signs will be going up next week on I-20 at Halls Ferry Road, Indiana Avenue and Clay Street.

“It will be an ongoing process,” Durrett said.

The new signs will feature the logos of businesses that pay a fee to be listed.