NATCHEZ, Miss. – The city’s number-one request for legislative funds is for replacing the deteriorating Canal Street bridge that faces being impassable in a few years.
With construction costs for a new bridge projected to be nearly $6 million, the Natchez Board of Aldermen agreed Tuesday with Mayor Dan Gibson to ask the Mississippi Legislature for money.
Gibson said the aged, much-traveled bridge only has about four years of life left.
“If that bridge is closed, it would handicap all of us – the city and the county,” Gibson said. “We can’t afford to let it be closed. We need to be proactive.”
The state Legislature, which began its annual session Jan. 6, has in recent years provided funds to local governments for a wide variety of infrastructure needs. Gibson – a former professional lobbyist – said efforts will be intensifying to persuade legislative leaders to earmark money for the Natchez bridge before the session ends in April.
The old Canal Street bridge, which dates back to the mid-1900s, was repaired last year after all large vehicles were prohibited from crossing the bridge beginning in December 2023, when inspectors discovered corroded undergirdings that rendered it unsafe for heavy weight. While about $630,000 spent on the repairs restored its capacity for buses and fire trucks, 18-wheelers continue to be banned from crossing the span.
Engineers have declared the bridge safe for most vehicles to traverse until around 2030 as efforts are made for funding, designing and building a replacement. City officials last year received engineering plans that envision a new 75-foot bridge looking the same as the current overpass but structurally different underneath. Gibson said Tuesday the estimated cost is $5.7 million, which he noted could come from the U.S. Congress as well as the state Legislature.
Much of the money the state Legislature has given to local governments since 2020 has been from federal funds Congress distributed to states to help recover from the economic impact of the COVID pandemic.
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City officials will also be asking the state Legislature to enact a bill needed to extend the operations of Natchez-Adams County’s business recruitment agency for another five years. The state-authorized funding of Natchez Inc. expires later this year.
The Natchez Board of Aldermen on Tuesday approved the necessary resolution asking the Mississippi House and Senate to pass the legislation required to permit local governments to donate funds to a nonprofit organization such as Natchez Inc. The Adams County Board of Supervisors is expected to do the same.
Natchez Inc. was established in 2010 as the economic development arm for Natchez and Adams County. The agency headed by Chandler Russ and a board of directors works to recruit, retain, and expand businesses in the area for more jobs.
The city board in recent years has annually given it $100,000 while the county board allocates $165,000. The state authorization for local funding is renewable every five years.
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