While work being done to asphalt on Cherry Street between South and Harrison streets is largely done, city officials are letting residents know projects will continue around town for the foreseeable future.

“Please note that final paving has not yet been completed, and a gravel bump remains at the excavation site,” City of Vicksburg officials said Tuesday when announcing the reopening of the portion of Cherry Street following days of detours in the area. “The City of Vicksburg is urging drivers to proceed with caution and reduce speed when traveling through the area.”

During Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA), Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said issues related to roadwork are part of the process of removing lead pipes throughout town; however, he warned that residents should be aware of the problems that arise from paving and other construction.

“There’s a big hole covered (on Speed Street) and we’ve got barricades around it,” Flaggs said of current streets under construction. “We have some sinkholes in the area because of what’s going on with our, I guess dilapidated – or antique – piping in the ground.”

Flaggs said that while not all incidents or accidents related to road construction will qualify for assistance from the city, any resident who has had problems as a result of the construction should contact Vicksburg City Hall.

“The reason why we’ve got to patch those up is there is a contract out there with an engineering firm that is assessing and evaluating the lead in our community,” Flaggs said. “You may be getting a letter from your water and gas bill of the assessment of that and to use those precautions and to call that number if you identify any lead and everything. We’re trying to repair the potholes as quick as we can, but if you get some damage to your vehicle, there’s a process you go through, and you can start with Steve Williams in the legal department.”

Ward 2 Alderman Alex Monsour said the process for evaluating the pipes is tedious, but necessary due to the aging infrastructure of a town as old as Vicksburg.

“A mandate came down from the federal government not too long ago that we have to get all the lead pipes out of the ground by a certain timeframe, which we’re dealing with as we go,” Monsour said. “It’s just going to be a matter of time because, as y’all know, Vicksburg is a very old city, and there’s a lot of lead pipes out there. So, it’s time-consuming. It does disrupt the road a little bit.”

Monsour said the process by which the City of Vicksburg is able to retrieve asphalt for the affected areas also contributes to the lengthy nature of the projects.

“We’re working with a local company here in town,” he said. “It’s tough for the City of Vicksburg to get asphalt. There isn’t a running asphalt plant here. We’ve got one in Yazoo City; we’ve got one in Jackson. The only way we can get asphalt here is to take a heated truck, go and pick the asphalt up, bring it back heated and come patch as much as we can. But, we’ve talked to a local company about possibly working with them to take seven or eight streets at a time, because they have the ability to get the asphalt, where we don’t in that amount.”