City of Vicksburg officials are taking the first steps to relieve an almost 40-year flooding problem on Pemberton Square Boulevard.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen Monday authorized Mayor George Flaggs Jr. to sign an agreement with Alford and Associates consulting engineers of Byram not to exceed $8,000 to determine the cause of the flooding and recommend a solution to correct the flooding that practically blocks traffic on Pemberton after heavy rains.

Flaggs said the company is the engineer for the construction of a new Merit Health clinic on Pemberton Square Boulevard near Goldie’s Express, at the entrance to the Pemberton Plaza Shopping Center.

“There’s no need going (building) in there without fixing the problem,” Flaggs said. “What we’ve done is hire the engineer that has to do their (Merit Health’s) work. It will be cost-effective.”

After heavy rains, water backs up on Pemberton Square Boulevard in a curve, blocking or slowing traffic from the Pemberton Plaza Shopping Center entrance near Goldie’s Express almost to Kroger.

Public Works Director Garnet Van Norman said the problem goes back to the 1980s when the area was developed during the construction of the Pemberton Square Mall.

When the developers developed the area, Van Norman said, “They put in a pipe that wasn’t the appropriate size and it wasn’t laid right. It’s a public safety issue. We need to fix it and fix it one time and then be done with it.”