The Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen can move closer to replacing the Hatcher Bayou bridge on Fisher Ferry Road.

The board Tuesday approved an agreement with the Mississippi Department of Transportation releasing $6 million in state Department of Transportation emergency road and bridge funds to replace the bridge. The project is pending final approval by MDOT, which still has to sign off on the agreement.

The money, combined with an additional $4 million in state Local Improvements Projects Funds, will cover the cost of replacing the bridge.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen in August approved an agreement with the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration for $4 million, which will be combined with the emergency funds for the $10 million project to replace the bridge.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said in August that work has already begun on the project.

“We’re working on it,” he said. “The engineers are working on it.”

The bridge is north of the entrance to Sports Force Parks on the Mississippi on Fisher Ferry Road, which is the main access road to the sports complex. The Vicksburg city line goes down the center of the bridge, putting its west side in the city and the east side in Warren County.

City officials applied for emergency road and bridge funds in 2021 to cover the cost of improvements to the bridge and hired Stantec at a cost not to exceed $7,500 to evaluate the bridge’s problems.

Initial plans called for the city to keep the existing bridge open while the new span is built next to it.