NATCHEZ — Washington Street and parts of State and Pearl streets will be closed today as crews continue downtown road overlays, City Engineer David Gardner said Thursday.

Motorists who regularly park along those streets are informed of road closings by typed notifications tucked under their vehicle’s windshield wiper.

“We are asking (motorists) not to park where the asphalt machines are because it slows the process up,” Gardner said. “We’re under a strict deadline and we have to be through by April 14.”

The downtown overlay is a $575,000 project financed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The project includes portions of Rankin, Commerce, Pearl, Washington, State and Canal streets, and a portion of Melrose-Montebello Parkway near the Roselawn subdivision.