NATCHEZ — Months after the North Natchez Drainage Project began, City Engineer David Gardner said Phase II-A should be finished by the beginning or middle of July.

Gardner said he originally estimated the project’s cost to total approximately $2.5 million. There’s been a 2.5 percent (or approximately a $60,000) increase in the estimation, and the estimated total now stands at $2.6 million.

“Anytime you have less than a 10-percent increase, you’re doing good,” he said.

Before the project began, there wasn’t a sufficient drainage system under the pavement on streets like Canal, Madison and Wall streets, which meant they were collapsing due to being weighed down by rainwater, Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis said.

“In a lot of places you just had asphalt with bricks under it with nothing holding it up,” she said.

The underground drainage piping is complete for those streets, Gardner said.

“(Now we’re) concentrating on (installing) six handicap ramps,” he said.

Under the American Disability Act, any renovations or additions to sidewalks must be handicap accessible, Gardner said.

“We’re also working with an asphalt contractor to get the asphalt back in the street and restore the street to the way it was before the work,” he said.

Once those things are complete, Gardner said, the only thing left to do will be clean-up tasks, like replanting grass, picking up trash and removing the equipment.

The project had to follow a sequence of work from Canal Street to Madison Street to Wall Street and finally to Oak Street in order to be most efficient.

Now, though, Gardner said, the sequence no longer matters, since asphalt can be put down anywhere at anytime, but he said he doesn’t know where the paving will start.

“The project lasted longer than I wanted it to,” he said. “The flood set us back a good bit. We would have been done otherwise.”

Because the contractor in charge of the project lives in Vicksburg — a flooded area —and because the highway from Vicksburg to Natchez is closed, Gardner said getting the manpower and supplies to Natchez currently poses a large problem.

“It’s had a big impact on (the contractor), because he’s got to go 90 miles out of the way to get to Natchez,” he said. “Plus, the contractor’s office and yard where he keeps all of his stuff is underwater.”

The next phase, Phase II-B, includes beginning drainage work on the areas up to Buckner’s Alley, Gardner said, such as the field behind the Children’s Home and the areas going toward Elm Street.

“Those unfinished portions are the last portion (of the project),” he said.

Arceneaux-Mathis said she hopes the transition from Phase II-A to Phase II-B will be a smooth one.

“This project has been the best infrastructure since we did bluff stabilization,” she said. “(It’s also) the most expensive one. We took care of all of the business district by taking care of Canal. We’re finally going up into the residential area.”