NATCHEZ, Miss. – The city has been awarded $1.1 million in federal funds to rebuild what buttresses an imperiled section of State Street between Martin Luther King and Arlington streets.
The money is contained in a congressional appropriation President Trump signed into law last month, Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson said Friday. The $1.1 million will be spent to correct failing drainage infrastructure that traverses underneath State Street near Fine Avenue.
“Thousands of people travel across this area each day, unaware that below them is critical infrastructure both holding up State Street and allowing water to flow underneath in Hardings Bayou,” Gibson said in announcing the allocation.
“While the large brick culvert is currently not a hazard, it is certainly showing its age — and an emergency closure and replacement would be detrimental to all who exit downtown Natchez by way of State Street.”
The mayor noted the drainage tunnel appears to date back to the late 1800s or early 1900s.
State Street is heavily traveled and a major corridor from downtown Natchez to U.S. 61 and Liberty Road. The stormwater drainage structure’s collapse would force a road closure with traffic being detoured by about one mile, according to the mayor.
City officials began in 2024 seeking federal funds for replacing the aged structure after a comprehensive study identified throughout the city $57 million worth of needed stormwater infrastructure improvements. The city has been using state and federal funds for those fixes that the mayor and Board of Aldermen have directed be done on a prioritized basis, Gibson said.
He expressed special appreciation for Mississippi’s U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who worked to ensure the $1.1 million got tucked into the appropriation that Trump signed into law Jan. 23 for funding various federal agencies and programs.
“From the moment we met with her in early 2025, she has not wavered in helping us get this funding for Natchez. Thanks also goes to former U.S. congressman Gregg Harper and Brett Bailey of Harper & Bailey Governmental Solutions. They carried the water on this effort as our lobbyists, and without them I don’t think we would have been successful,” Gibson said.
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