NATCHEZ, Miss. — Work will begin soon to upgrade the bridge on the much-traveled Canal Street near the Natchez Visitor Reception Center.
The Natchez Board of Aldermen on Tuesday voted to contract a Madison-based company to do the $312,000 bridge-rehabilitation project. Most of the work will be paid for by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. The board agreed to fulfill the shortfall with funds it’ll borrow. About $12,000 is budgeted for this.
The extra amount needed for the bridgework will be included in a $450,000 loan the board agreed Tuesday to take for completing a long-running multimillion-dollar project to alleviate drainage problems in north Natchez. That extensive infrastructure project has been funded largely by federal funds but needs more for add-ons approved by the board.
Among other actions at Tuesday’s meeting, the Board of Aldermen voted to allow Ronald Fry to establish another bed-and-breakfast inn next to his current one on North Union Street. This reverses a previous Natchez Planning Commission decision denying him the permit to operate another lodging business in a residential neighborhood.
Aldermen apparently were swayed by arguments that Fry is enhancing the 709 North Union Street house that’s been in disrepair and fulfilling a demand for bed-and-breakfast inns in Natchez. Opponents of Fry’s plan expressed concerns about more commercialization and parking congestion in the neighborhood.