Repairs to parts of seven county roads damaged by a natural gas transmission pipeline construction began this morning, with more work likely in 2010.

Traffic was flagged around crews shoring up Dana Road and Nine Mile Cutoff Road to fill potholes and address other damage that has followed construction of the Midcontinent Express Pipeline, in progress in Vicksburg and Warren County since the spring. Warren County asked for at least the minimum $300,000 right of way bond from pipeline planners to help pay for the repairs, board attorney Randy Sherard said.

Sections of Halls Ferry Road and Bovina Cutoff Road will require lane closures and detours next spring when county road crews apply new riding surfaces there, Road Manager Richard Winans said.

Portions of Fisher Ferry, Shady Grove and Glass roads are also marked for repairs as a result of the damage, which has prompted calls.

The 500-mile pipeline is a joint venture between Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and Energy Transfer Partners LP and is operated by Kinder Morgan. The $1.4 billion gas line varies from 30 to 42 inches along its route from southeast Oklahoma to a tie-in to a existing pipeline in Butler, Ala., just across the Mississippi line. It will carry about 3 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily by its completion by December 2010.

It follows about the same path and utility rights-of-way as a similarly sized pipeline completed in 2007 by Gulf South Pipeline. Both crossed the Mississippi River south of the river bridges and continued east through properties in south Vicksburg and eastern Warren County. Another long-distance gas pipeline, the Southeast Supply Header, built in 2008 by Spectra Energy and CenterPoint Energy, crossed Warren County near the Yokena community.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com