NATCHEZ — Traffic moving through the intersection of John R. Junkin and Seargent S. Prentiss drives should be continuously flowing next week.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation plans to change the traffic pattern through the intersection to its permanent position Wednesday, if weather permits.

Natchez Police officers and MDOT officials will be on scene directing traffic on the first day of the switch, Resident Engineer Jim Eggleston said.

“If (drivers) will just be patient and pay attention, we’ll make sure everything goes well,” Eggleston said.

For a video of how a continuous flow intersection works, click on the folloing video link from ABMB engineers in Baton Rouge. Video Link .

Work to make the intersection a continuous-flow intersection began in 2008, and MDOT has said it hopes to be complete by the end of the year.

Though the traffic pattern will switch next week, the roads in the area still need two layers of asphalt, Eggleston said.

“We’ll be doing that while traffic is using the intersection,” he said. “That will go rather slowly.”

New traffic signals that have been hanging at the intersection for months will be turned on next week when the switch is made. The old signals will be turned off and removed shortly after.

Though Eggleston admits its hard to understand right now, the new traffic pattern is designed to move more vehicles through the area in a shorter amount of time.

The only major change will be for vehicles coming from the bridge and turning left. Those drivers will cross the lane of traffic headed to the bridge before reaching the intersection.

Other lanes of traffic will operate as they currently do.

One turning lane to eventually be a part of the intersection won’t open next week.

Eggleston said drivers can expect a few less traffic cones in the area next week, but roadwork will continue for sometime.

The speed of the project in the coming weeks will depend on weather, which in the winter months is not favorable for construction.

“Be careful driving through the intersection,” Eggleston said. “The signs are correct, just pay attention.”

Baton Rouge had the only existing continuous-flow intersection in the United States when work in Natchez began, but the model for the Natchez project is a set of roadways in Mexico City, Mexico.