NATCHEZ, Miss. – Federal funds are being sought to rebuild what buttresses an imperiled section of State Street between Martin Luther King and Arlington streets.
“If the infrastructure there fails, it would cripple all of downtown,” said Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson, who noted the deteriorating structure is by Fine Avenue at the bayou that runs along the much-traveled State Street.
Gibson said it would cost an estimated $1.1 million to replace “the failing infrastructure that really holds up State Street at the bayou there.”
While there is “no immediate threat to the road,” he said “at some point the infrastructure would need to be replaced — it is very old and the brick is showing decay.”
Gibson said this is among various needs for federal funds he’s presented to Mississippi’s U.S. congressional delegation
“The city cannot afford to have this major roadway fail,” he said.
The State Street support structure’s deterioration was discovered about two years ago after a citywide drainage study was done that revealed various infrastructure problems to address.
A section of the 800 block of State Street did collapse several years ago after the erosion-prone bayou there suffered a landslide.
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