[02/21/02]Vicksburg officials are considering a change in plans for downtown Washington Street and adding $400,000 to lay brick in the six-block shopping area.

Mayor Laurence Leyens said Wednesday that an estimate for using brick on Washington from Veto to Grove was obtained after complaints over plans to remove the brick section there now.

“If the majority of the community wants to spend the extra money for the brick, then we should be responsive,” Leyens said.

In January, city officials unveiled plans to remove the brick paving placed on Washington Street between South and Clay streets in the 1970s and make the road two-way again. The surface would be asphalt.

“We’re going to go out and talk to people and see what they want to do,” Leyens said.

Repaving the last section of Washington Street with asphalt has been estimated to cost about $1.9 million. Putting in brick streets and concrete sidewalks is estimated to cost about $2.3 million.

Originally, it had been thought that putting down bricks would cost about $2 million more than asphalt.

North Ward Alderman Gertrude Young, whose ward includes the downtown area, said that she does not believe the benefits of putting down brick streets will be worth the additional costs.

“People already think we’re spending too much money,” Young said.

In addition to the Washington Street project, the city is spending about $5 million downtown for urban renewal. The urban renewal project will allow the city to acquire dilapidated structures in the area and resale them for development.

A public hearing for urban renewal will be at 10 a.m. March 1 at City Hall Annex. Unlike the federal grant program of the 1970s, which included the pedestrian mall, the city’s plan is targeted at maintaining the historic look of the area.

Both projects are being funded out of the $17.5 million bond issue by the city.

Last year, during a repaving project on Washington Street from Bowmar Avenue to First East Street, the original brick paving could be seen in several areas after the roadway was milled.

Leyens said that part of the goal of urban renewal was to return the area to the way it looked in the early 1900s and that making the road brick again would help create that image.

“Cities all over the country are making their downtown streets brick for that very reason,” Leyens said.

Plans today are to begin working on Washington Street in July in order to have the work done before Thanksgiving and the holiday shopping rush. One problem with installing brick is that it could take up to four weeks longer and may mean work is still going on into December, City Planner Ronnie Bounds said.

To complete the project with the least amount of impact on downtown stores, plans are also to work on only one side of the road at a time. That will leave at least half of the street open to cars at all times, but city officials were not certain if that can be done while putting down bricks.

Downtown underwent big changes as part of a federal Urban Renewal plan 35 years ago. Included were the brick streets, lights and some shrubbery and facades that remain along with a fountain, amphitheater and the two parking garages that have been removed or sold.