NATCHEZ, Miss. — The stalled repaving of Canal and Homochitto streets is expected to begin next week and be finished by mid-May, according to reports provided at Tuesday’s Natchez Board of Aldermen meeting.
Theobald Construction Services – the Vicksburg-based contractor – began the $1.1 million repaving project in November on Canal Street and then proceeded to Homochitto. However, asphalt was improperly laid on some segments. Work stopped in December – leaving the project unfinished with rough sections on the two much-traveled thoroughfares.
The resurfacing work is expected to resume next week and take about 14 days to finish.
Another Natchez street project with long-term timetable is the replacement of the aged Canal Street bridge.
“It’s nearing the end of its life,” said engineer Ryan Holmes, who reported it was built in the early 1940s.
Meeting Tuesday with Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson and city aldermen, Holmes estimated construction costs for a new bridge would be at least $5 million. With work not expected to begin until around 2030, there’s time to find funding sources that could include the federal government, Gibson said.
“The repairs that have been made give us about a four-to-five-year window to plan for this and to raise funds for this,” the mayor said.
Holmes noted plans he’s drawn would have the new 75-foot bridge looking the same as the current overpass but structurally different underneath.
“If you’re traveling across it this afternoon and you travel across it a few years from now, you won’t notice the difference. It will look the same from above,” he said.
Recent repairs to the bridge have restored its capacity for buses and fire trucks, but Natchez officials continue to ban 18-wheelers from the span. All large vehicles were prohibited from crossing the much-traveled bridge beginning in December 2023, when inspectors discovered corroded undergirdings that rendered it unsafe for heavy weight.
After about $630,000 recently spent on repairs, it was declared safe in February for most vehicles to cross for a few more years. Tractor-trailer trucks continue to be prohibited.
While city officials have previously surmised the bridge was built around 1960, Holmes put its construction date in the early 1940s. “It’s obviously at the end of its life,” he said.
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