NATCHEZ, Miss. — Adams County supervisors expressed confidence work will commence for upgrading Morgantown Road despite road builders’ proposed costs exceeding the amount of money available.
“We’ve got a Plan B. We’re going to get it started,” Adams County board President Warren Gaines said Monday.
Adjustments might be made to reduce the construction costs to fit within what’s been budgeted. Gaines said the proposed costs are about $1 million more than what the city and county have cobbled together to widen and resurface the one-mile stretch of the much-traveled, hazardous thoroughfare.
Funds to enhance Morgantown Road include $2.4 million appropriated by the U.S. Congress last year for road construction and nearly $900,000 in federal funds distributed by the state Department of Environmental Quality to correct drainage problems.
Higher-than-expected costs are “a common theme” for road-building projects as the price of asphalt and other expenses “have gone through the roof,” said Gregg Harper, the former U.S. congressman hired by Natchez and Adams County to lobby for federal and state funds.
Meeting Monday with the county Board of Supervisors, Harper said he’ll continue to search for more funds for Morgantown Road. “It’s an ongoing project we can’t give up on,” he said.
Morgantown Road has been called the most dangerous roadway in Adams County because it’s so narrow and prone to rain-induced flooding. It begins inside Natchez off U.S. 61 north and stretches out into the county. Plans call for the road to be widened for safer driving and fixed for better drainage. Local officials have been struggling for several years to come up with money for this.
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The Adams County board on Monday did select the contractor for resurfacing and enhancing Chester Willis Field at a cost of about $1.4 million. NK Stubbs is to install artificial turf, new dugouts and fencing for the first phase of renovating the aged baseball venue.
Nathan Stubbs’ Natchez construction company last month originally proposed an overestimated cost of $1.9 million, but the contractor was able to whittle the expenses down without changing the scope of the plan’s layout, said landscape architect Joey Furr, the project’s designer.
The Board of Supervisors also envisions other upgrades for the Liberty Park facility’s stadium seats, restrooms and parking lot. The plans and costs for that second phase have not yet been finalized, but fully restoring the Chester Willis baseball venue has been projected to potentially cost more than $2 million.
“We’ve got a facility that needs a lot of work” but will “be a great asset” for baseball events when fully renovated, Furr said.
The funds for this are from money the county board has from selling bonds last year that will be repaid to investors with added interest over several years.
The county-owned Liberty Park ballfield has been used the past several decades by Natchez and Cathedral high schools. Its history goes as far back as 1940, when the minor league baseball team Natchez Pilgrims played there, according to baseball historical records. Teams went on to play there as the Natchez Giants and Natchez Indians until the early 1950s.
Furr has presented plans to upgrade Willis Field to college-playing standards. His landscape architectural firm has designed more than 50 parks and recreation facilities, including the Louisiana State University varsity girls softball field, LSU tennis facility and McComb sports complex, according to information posted by his Baton Rouge-based firm.
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