Actual work on a rail-topped tunnel to replace the closed bridge at Washington and Clark streets might start as early as the first week of April following a decision to use up to $4 million more in previously approved municipal bond funds to get the long-stalled project under way.

In order to get the funding in place, Vicksburg Mayor Paul Winfield proposed — and the board agreed on a split vote — to use $1.5 million in bond funds that had been earmarked for road paving and $2.2 million that had been pledged to the last phase of the developing sports complex on Fisher Ferry Road. An additional $350,000 reimbursement from Kansas City Southern railroad will complete the $4 million needed to get the contract signed.

The city has been trying to fill the funding shortfall for the tunnel project since shortly after the bridge was closed to traffic in January 2009 after soil along the river bluff washed away from support piers.

The city most recently made a formal request for a $4 million federal earmark, but it won’t know until the summer if local delegates secured the appropriation. If that money comes, the $4 million reallocated from the bond authorization will become available for the original purposes.

Winfield said Thursday the city cannot afford to wait or the cost of the tunnel — which has already nearly doubled since the city began planning for it in 2006 — could rise even more. The reason, said the mayor, is Kanzaa Construction of Topeka, Kan., recently informed the city the $8.6 million quote it gave on the tunnel work last summer will only be good until Wednesday.

“We’re at a stage right now where we can’t afford to sit on our hands and allow this project to change again,” Winfield said. “But we should not, and cannot, legally move forward without having the funding in place.”

“This is only in the event that we do not get our federal appropriation,” Winfield said. “I’m very confident we’ll get it and those funds will be put back in place for those projects.”

While North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield and South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman agreed with the mayor on reallocating the $1.5 million from paving projects, primarily on North Ward streets, Beauman voted against moving the funds from the sports complex project.

“I’ve got a problem with it,” said Beauman, who has long championed the complex and was parks and recreation director before being elected alderman in 2001. “We talked yesterday and you mentioned to me some other ideas for that property, and I don’t want to sit here and vote for moving the money, and come back later and the property is not available for us to complete (the sports complex).”

Vicksburg has invested millions in the sports development, starting with the purchase of the land off Fisher Ferry Road between Hamilton Heights subdivision and St. Michael Catholic Church. Clear River Construction is nearing completion of a $2.38 million contract to complete phase one clearing and ground work on the sports complex that started in early 2009. The second and final phase of work, which would include completion of the first four softball fields, was expected to be put to bid this spring.

The mayor said he does not think the sports complex is being constructed on the most appropriate site, but insisted that had no bearing on his decision to alter its funding.

“This is not to slight the youth or recreation in Vicksburg, but it’s an issue of survival in our city,” Winfield said. “We have the most pressing issue in Vicksburg today before us. Business owners are suffering, and it has totally thrown the movement throughout our city off. It’s a tough issue now, and I’m sure there are some folks who are not going to be happy about it, but we have been charged with setting priorities.” Washington Street is the city’s main north-south corridor.

City Attorney Lee Davis Thames Jr. said he would begin discussions with Kanzaa immediately to get a contract in place before the March 31 deadline.

“I’m running to talk to them as soon as this meeting is over,” he assured the board. Winfield said Kanzaa informed the city it will be ready to break ground on the project within 10 days of a contract signing.

The tunnel project likely will be split into two phases. The first will include creating a connector road between Washington and Lee streets via DiamondJacks entrance on the south side of the closed bridge. The existing two-lane casino entrance would be widened by a lane, with one lane dedicated to casino traffic and the remaining two for city traffic.

The new road should ease some of the congestion and shorten the current detour route around the bridge, which takes motorists around City Park via Lee Street, Confederate Avenue and North Frontage Road. The second phase will include the construction of the tunnel, which should be complete one year after the project begins.

When the city began planning for the bridge replacement, the estimated cost was $5 million and that amount was set aside in a $16.9 million bond issue — the same bond issue that set aside funds for the paving and sports complex projects. The Federal Railroad Administration was to reimburse the city $4 million via a grant at the rate of $1 million per year, leaving the city’s net cost at $1 million.

The city got a three-year extension earlier this month on the reimbursement, meaning the net cost to the city will be $5 million if the federal earmark is not forthcoming and remain at $1 million if federal cash is obtained.

Under both former Mayor Laurence Leyens and Winfield, city officials tried to corral federal stimulus dollars or funds from the Mississippi Department of Transportation to get the project under way. They gave local delegates a tour of the 80-year-old span, showing them the negative effects of its closure. During an annual lobby trip to Washington, D.C., this spring, a group of city, county and business leaders all told delegates getting an earmark for the bridge was the city’s No. 1 priority.

“You’re going to have some people that are going to be upset about the fact that their street possibly may not be paved or that park possibly may not be finished, but you can’t be caught in a situation that we find ourselves in right now,” Mayfield said. “There’s always an if when you’re talking about federal dollars, and I’m just really hoping they come through for us because if they don’t we’re going to be blanked if we do and blanked if we don’t.”

Municipalities are authorized to borrow money for capital projects through the bonding process, pledging to make payments over time, usually 10 years or 20 years. Money is not actually borrowed until needed. After a bond proposal is passed, there is a period for citizens to object and, if enough do, a public vote is required. Once a bond issue is finally approved, officials are legally free to adjust the purpose when needs change.

Vicksburg has a good bond rating and repayment of existing debts costs about 7 percent of the general fund or $2.2 million per year.

Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com