Aldermen: Bids for Levee Street improvements higher than budgeted amount

Published 4:32 pm Monday, August 16, 2021

Plans for proposed improvements to the Levee Street area may be delayed after bids for the work came in over the project’s budget.

The Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen Monday opened three bids for the project, with Construction Specialists LLC of Jackson submitting the apparent low bid of $700,232. Fordice Construction of Vicksburg bid $1,039,943, while Central Asphalt, also from Vicksburg, bid $843,616.65.

All were more than the project’s $667,500 budget, which consists of $534,000 in Federal Transportation Alternative funds received by the city in December 2018 and a 20-percent match of $133,500 from the city. The board took the bids under advisement.

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The Levee Street project involves improving the street’s sidewalks, developing parking for the depot museum in the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Depot, improved street lighting and bus parking areas along the street for tour buses serving the cruise boats.

The work is part of an overall plan for the area to make the city’s riverfront more attractive to tourists visiting the area.

The board is also considering a plan to extend Levee Street from its intersection with Dorsey Street in an industrial area in the southern part of the city to WaterView Casino.

The extension project is part of the improvements outlined in the city’s Comprehensive Plan.

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.

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