NATCHEZ — Roadwork at the intersection of John R. Junkin and Seargent S. Prentiss drives will soon make a transition.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation has been working on the continuous flow intersection for several months, creating a new road that will become an additional lane.

The completed project will be a series of timed lights created to free up the flow of traffic at that intersection.

MDOT workers have been tearing up the road along John R. Junkin and Seargent S. Prentiss.

Now, MDOT Project Engineer Jim Eggleston said asphalt is being laid and curb and gutter work has started.

“Soon we’ll change from working on the outsides of the roadway to working in the median,” he said.

Which means the concrete barriers that have been lining the roads will be moved from the outside of the roads to the inside.

“That should be coming up in the next month or two,” Eggleston said.

The roads that are currently being worked on will be turning lanes, he said.

“It’s paved up to the last layer,” he said. “The last layer will be saved until the end of the project. We’ll pave the thing with one last layer and put on the final striping.”

The almost complete outside roads will be partially open, and other sections will be closed off.

“It’s not going to be completely open,” Eggleston said.

Once MDOT workers turn their attention to the median, Eggleston said the work will include tearing up the median and putting down concrete and asphalt.

“It’s basically reworking the median islands — redoing them completely,” he said.

As far as installing the traffic lights, they’ll be put up intermittently toward the end of the project.

“But we’ve got quite a few months to go before there are any changes to the traffic lights out there,” Eggleston said.

He said the project is on target to be completed by the end of the year.

“Everything’s moving pretty well right now,” he said. We just hope the good weather continues, and we get a lot accomplished.”