The City of Natchez, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Mississippi Department of Transportation, has announced the launch of the Transforming the Forks to Freedom Corridor Project, a major infrastructure and connectivity initiative funded by a $24,570,000 federal BUILD grant.
The project will focus on improving infrastructure, mobility, and business-lifestyle connectivity within the Devereux Drive, St. Catherine Street, and East Franklin Street corridors, as well as key Downtown Natchez areas. Secured after an initial application in 2023, the grant was fully awarded in June 2024 and requires no local matching funds, ensuring the project is supported entirely through federal funding.
Building on the City’s 2018 Downtown Master Plan, the Forks to Freedom Corridor Project reflects years of professional planning and extensive community engagement. Planned improvements are designed to enhance transportation and pedestrian safety, improve accessibility, elevate quality of life for residents and visitors, and strengthen economic development and tourism while better connecting people to jobs, education, and cultural heritage sites.
“This is an important step forward in telling our city’s full and amazing story,” said Mayor Dan M. Gibson, 44th Mayor of Natchez. “We will see significant improvements throughout our city—with a special focus on areas that are in dire need of development and opportunity. This project will serve as a catalyst to further propel access to businesses while taking cultural tourism, city gateways, and green spaces to the next level.”
Planned improvements include pedestrian accessibility upgrades in the Historic Downtown Business District, commercial corridor mobility enhancements along St. Catherine Street, East Franklin Street, and Devereux Drive, and gateway and signage improvements along Highway 61 on the east side of the Flyover. The project also includes safety lighting installations in areas such as Devereux Drive and enhancements to Natchez’s cultural tourism assets, including sites near the historic Forks of the Road, the second-largest enslavement market in the United States, and Senator Hiram Revels Plaza, which honors the first African American elected to the U.S. Congress.
The consultant team for the project includes Neel-Schaffer, Inc. as the prime consultant, along with Maptech, Inc., Burns Cooley Dennis, Inc., Coastal Environments, Inc., Eocene Environmental Group, and ANI, LLC, which will lead public involvement efforts.
The project is currently in Phase A, which includes survey work, geotechnical and environmental studies, schematic design, and coordination with agencies, stakeholders, and the public. Phase A activities will continue through June 2026, with a public meeting expected to be announced in early 2026. Community members are encouraged to share input through an online survey at www.transform.onenatchez.com.
Phase B will focus on advancing design and beautification details and is scheduled to begin immediately following Phase A, with bidding and construction to follow. Once completed, the Forks to Freedom Corridor Project is expected to create new opportunities to tell Natchez’s full and powerful story while elevating the city as a national cultural heritage destination.
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