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NATCHEZ — The city’s hope for having the Canal Street and Homochitto Street paving projects completed by Christmas has been dashed.

Mayor Dan Gibson said the Homochitto project has hit a serious snag that must be addressed over the next few weeks.

“The mix that was applied to Homochitto Street on the incoming lane from John R. Junkin Drive yesterday has proven to be defective. It is not adhering properly and is starting to come up already,” Gibson said. “We are working with the contractor and asphalt contractor right now for a solution. It’s very likely that lane all the way from John R. Junkin to MLK Street will have to be removed and new asphalt applied.”

Central Asphalt is the contractor for the project. APAC is the provider of the asphalt.

“We are very grateful that they are all working well with each other and have been very cooperative with the city,” he said. “We ask that people be mindful of this and exercise caution as they travel that route. We are hopeful that within a couple of weeks, the situation will be resolved.

“I felt it was important to get this word out. In addition, we do know there are some potholes that need to be raised and permanent striping installed on both streets. We ask everyone to please be patient as we work through this project,” Gibson said.