City prepares for another round of street paving

Published 3:14 pm Tuesday, June 2, 2020

A total of 11 streets in Vicksburg’s North and South wards are expected to be resurfaced under another round of paving approved by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

The work is funded by money from the $18 million capital improvements bond issue approved by the board in 2015. No date has been set for the work to begin.

“We’ve been working on it for a while,” North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield said. “We’ve already done one round and we’re actually working on the second round now. Hopefully, when this round is done we’ll be able to do a total assessment on the money floated to do the paving.”

Email newsletter signup

Sign up for The Vicksburg Post's free newsletters

Check which newsletters you would like to receive
  • Vicksburg News: Sent daily at 5 am
  • Vicksburg Sports: Sent daily at 10 am
  • Vicksburg Living: Sent on 15th of each month

Mayfield said the biggest problem he has encountered in the North Ward “is that I’ve had to do so many punch outs. We have so many utilities that are involved, especially those areas where you have concrete expanding and retracting.”

The constant movement of the concrete paving on some city streets, he said, has affected the underground utility lines.

“We’ve spent a lot of money and time trying to make sure those areas have been fixed so we can go in and pave them,” he said, adding he hopes money is available after the streets on the North Ward paving list are done to do a few more.

South Ward Alderman Alex Monsour said the project includes some alternate paving projects that could be done if there is money remaining after the work on the primary streets are completed.

“If you look at the base bid and what (projects) we have, there’s some money left over,” he said. “But we have to prepare to incur some cost. Before we move on to the other streets, I want to make sure we get this (the streets on the paving list) done and we may come out under budget.”

The paving list includes:

North Ward:

  • Baldwin Ferry Road from Mission 66 to Hope Street.
  • South Street from First North to the end of South, going east.
  • All of Wabash Avenue will be paved.
  • Adams Street from Jackson Street to the bridge at Adams and Mundy.
  • Fayette Street from Locust to Adams.
  • All of Irene Street in the Kings community.
  • All of Ford Street in the Kings community.

Mayfield said he would review the remaining available money midway through the project. One street that may be included at the end is Spring Street, which is a concrete street.

“You can’t go over concrete with asphalt,” Mayfield said. “That’s why it’s more expensive, and that concrete is anywhere between 6 and 8 inches (deep).”

South Ward:

  • All of Cypress Centre Drive near El Sombrero Mexican Restaurant and Holiday Inn.
  • The intersection of Halls Ferry Road and Pemberton Square Boulevard. Pemberton Square Boulevard from the Halls Ferry intersection to U.S. 61 South was paved in 2019.
  • A section of road off Halls Ferry Road that runs near Advance Auto Parts and Trustmark Bank.
  • Porters Chapel and Indiana Avenue. The intersection will be improved and Indiana will be paved to the Vicksburg Fire Department’s Fire Station No. 2. There is also work planned on Porters Chapel.

About John Surratt

John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.

email author More by John