Local officials don’t expect it to happen anytime soon, but they are certainly interested in a proposal to build an interstate from Augusta, Ga., to Natchez.

&uot;If we were to get that &045; even though I wouldn’t be around to see it &045; we would be exposed to a lot more people,&uot; Natchez Mayor Phillip West said.

U.S. Rep. Max Burns, R-Ga., has proposed building the interstate through the region traditionally known as the Black Belt &045; an area of rich soil but, lately, of poor economic development. U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss., has signed onto the legislation as a co-sponsor.

Still in its early stages, a bill Burns introduced last month calls for a study on the cost and feasibility of the interstate and a second interstate from Georgia to east Tennessee.

Local officials said they recognize the legislation is new, but they are glad for the attention paid to transportation needs in the region.

&uot;I don’t think (an interstate) is something that even made the dream list,&uot; said Woody Allen, chairman of the Natchez-Adams County Economic Development Authority.

Officials have already been working to establish four-lane highway access through Natchez and Vidalia, La.

And although the proposed highway would stop in Natchez, Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said he welcomes the proposal as well.

&uot;I think it’s a fantastic project,&uot; said Copeland. &uot;I will all of the Louisiana and Mississippi delegation would support it. I’m hoping that it does happen.&uot;

West and Allen both said they will be making contacts to see what kind of support the legislation has and how feasible it would be.

An interstate would be an asset, West said, in attracting industry.

Allen echoed West, noting that Eurocopter, a project for which Natchez was once in the running but which later located in north Mississippi, was concerned about Adams County mainly because of the lack of interstates to the area.