NATCHEZ — Drivers traveling in Natchez should have a smoother ride on several streets in the next couple of months.

Work on the city’s $500,000 overlay and micro-seal project began Wednesday, City Engineer David Gardner said, on Passbach Street and John Glenn Avenue.

The city has committed $500,000, half of Magnolia Bluffs Casino’s annual lease payment, to the street repairs.

Approximately $300,000 will be used to overlay portions of Passbach Street, Peachtree Street, Laurel Avenue, Camellia Drive, John Glenn Avenue, Orange Avenue and three sections of Park Place.

The streets to be micro-surfaced are Cherokee Street, Dale Court, Ray Street, Vaughn Drive, Live Oak Drive, Shadow Lane, Fisk Avenue, Myrtle Avenue, Amberwood Court, Horseshoe Circle, Lafayette Street, Linwood Court, Oakhill Drive, Oriole Terrace, Summerfield Place, Cedar Circle, Florida Drive, Fraser Street, Miami Court, Oak Court, Rickman Street, Salvo Street, Mallery Street, Ridgewood Road, Mt. Carmel Drive, Briarwood Road and Winchester Road.

The contractor has 90 days to complete the project, Gardner said, but it will likely be finished before then.

City officials have said they hope the street repairs project will be an annual program for the city, and Gardner said he believes that would be the best course of action.

“The beauty about the way the board (of aldermen) is doing it now is that it’s a pay-as-you-go system,” he said. “Asphalt, theoretically, lasts about 10 years, and you don’t want to have to pay for something beyond its life expectancy. At the end of a 10-year cycle, you’re pretty much getting close to hitting all your streets, which is good because you can go back to some of the streets that’s life expectancy would be nearing its end.”

An annual repair program, Gardner said, would save the city money in the long run.

“Over the long-term, it saves the city money because you don’t get into costly base repair or a costly repair of a street collapse because you’re being proactive and maintaining your streets on a regular basis.

“It’s a smart way to do a street program.”