NATCHEZ — The half of Daisy Street closest to the dead end will be under construction in approximately two weeks, City Engineer David Gardner said.

Jordan, Kaiser & Sessions, LLC is designing the project, and the design is approximately 90 percent complete. Work will aim to improve drainage by discharging water from the area down into the bayou.

To do that, Gardner said, the street needs to be widened and gutters need to be installed

Preferably, the entire street could be reconstructed, he said, but budget constraints made choosing one section necessary.

“We’ll be lowering the street in some areas, so I anticipate that we will probably have to relocate some of the (utility) lines and make them deeper because they’ll be in the way of construction,” Gardner said.

“We’ll start on the lower end of the street and work our way up to higher ground — you always want to do that when dealing with drainage.”

Construction can’t begin until the design is 100 percent complete, he said, because even the slightest change in design could impact the entire project.

The project’s estimated cost is $370,000 with the city funding $150,000 — including engineering — and the Mississippi Development Program funding the remaining $220,000 through a community development block grant.

“Right now, the water hits the pavement and just runs off in every direction,” Gardner said. “We’re going to correct that and keep (the water) from discharging into people’s yards and collect it underground in a series of pipes.”

The project has been in the works for at least six years, he said, but the real work started six months ago after the grant was approved.

“Hopefully, we’ll apply for other grants in the future and maybe continue (construction) all the way up to East and West Stiers streets,” Gardner said.