Work continued on the Levee Street floodwall Wednesday as city officials continued preparations for a forecast 50.5-foot crest on the Mississippi River March 17.

Flood Stage is 43 feet.

The river was at 46.6 feet Wednesday afternoon, and floodwaters have covered Pittman and Williams streets in Ford Subdivision and the Kings community. The Mississippi Department of Transportation closed Mississippi 465 Tuesday night, requiring people in the Eagle Lake community to use the backwater levee to get to Vicksburg.

Sheriff Martin Pace said Wednesday afternoon there have been no traffic problems on the levee.

In Vicksburg, construction of the Levee Street wall has forced city officials to reroute truck traffic that would normally use the street, which along with Washington Street forms the truck route to the Port of Vicksburg.

“What we are doing is asking trucks going to the port to take Highway 61 North,” deputy police chief Bobby Stewart said. “Basically, anybody who’s going to be in the business district or to industries on Levee Street and coming from the north, they’re using Washington Street to Mulberry to Clay (street), back to Levee, and that puts them back on the truck route.

“They’re just using as short section of Washington Street downtown.”

He said the trucks are encouraged to go south to get back on I-20 or U.S. 61, but some companies making deliveries to Bungee are from the north and are returning north after making deliveries, “But that truck route right now is being used only for deliveries (and pickups) to those businesses.”