NATCHEZ — Martin Luther King Jr. Road will soon be getting a $1.5 million overlay.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation is overlaying the road, also known as Mississippi 555, from the intersection of Lynda Lee Drive to Airport Road.

Nellie Wimberly, MDOT project engineer, said the project’s contractor, The Blain Companies, should begin July 12 milling off the current asphalt and replacing it one lane at a time. Wimberly said part of the road will be widened, and rumble strips will be added.

“Those are the loud things at the edge of the road,” she said.

Lanes will be closed as they are individually overlaid, and overnight lane closures are possible, Wimberly said.

“It may slow traffic down during the heaviest traffic times,” she said.

Martin Luther King Jr. Road, Wimberly said, is overdue for a new layer of asphalt.

“(The road) has been due for an overlay for some time,” she said. “I don’t think, (it has been overlaid) since the early 90s.”

Wimberly said the roadwork should wrap up Sept. 20.