The board of aldermen adopted a comprehensive plan Tuesday that allows them to see &uot;the other end of the tunnel.&uot;

&uot;It’s a plan that’s manageable,&uot; Mayor Larry L. &uot;Butch&uot; Brown said of the 20-year plan. &uot;That’s what distinguishes this from other plans. We can see the other end of the tunnel.&uot;

The comprehensive plan is a guide for Natchez’s development and includes goals, objectives and policies, a land use plan, a transportation plan and a public facilities plan.

Not included in the plan was a proposal to extend Martin Luther King Jr. Street from Orleans Street to John R. Junkin Drive.

Opponents of the proposal, many of whom spoke against the extension at public hearings over the last few months, said it would bring environmental and traffic problems.

Proponents of the extension said it would ease traffic problems on other downtown roads.

A recent addition to the plan was the Forks of the Road as a fifth tourism anchor. The planning commission included the site, one of the largest slave markets in the South until just before the Civil War, at its October meeting.

The plan calls for land to be acquired around the site and appropriate facilities built to commemorate the significance of the site.

One other change in the plan was noted by Larry Smith of Central Mississippi Planning and Development District: In the land use plan, the area to the west of Lower Woodville Road near its intersection with Highland Boulevard was labeled low-density residential, but should have been labeled as commercial office space.

Alderman George Harden praised former City Planner James Shelby for his involvement in the plan.

&uot;It’s glad to know we have some innovative ideas in this plan that incorporate every aspect of Natchez, Miss., over the next 20 years,&uot; Harden said.

Brown thanked Central Mississippi Planning and Development District, whose planners wrote the plan and completed most of the research for it, as well as current City Planner David Preziosi and Assistant City Planner Gretchen Kuechler.