Driving through progress

Road work is becoming a familiar sight in the Tri-City area, and that work will likely extend to the U.S. 90 and La. 182 bridges within the next two years.

State Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin, spoke during Tuesday’s Berwick Town Council meeting.

The state’s 2017-18 transportation budget should include $18 million in state funding for maintenance on the U.S. 90 bridge over Berwick Bay, which includes fixing structural issues, Jones said. He expects the structural repair contract to be bid out for construction in November.

After structural work is complete on the U.S. 90 bridge, the bridge will be cleaned and painted, Jones said.

The 2018-19 transportation budget is projected to have $16 million set aside to do structural repairs, painting and cleaning of the La. 182 bridge.

Several years ago, there was talk of tearing down the La. 182 bridge, but local officials were able to prevent that from happening, he said.

Berwick Mayor Louis Ratcliff said town officials have stressed to state leaders about the importance of maintaining the La. 182 bridge, especially as an evacuation route during a hurricane. Another concern for town leaders is the accumulation of trash on the bridges, he said.

Under former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration, the state was removing $75 million to $80 million a year from the state’s transportation trust fund to use the money for other purposes, Jones said.

Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration has restored money that the state was diverting away from the transportation fund, Jones said.

Louisiana will be “lucky” if the state’s transportation budget reaches $800 million for the 2017-18 fiscal year, he said.
Jones also hopes the Donald Trump administration proposes the federal infrastructure bill he’s discussed doing.

“I’m totally in favor of that,” Jones said.

Work began several weeks ago to install J-turns along U.S. 90 from Wax Lake Outlet to Berwick. That stretch of highway will include 32 J-turns, Jones said. The anticipated finish date for that $16.5 million project is Christmas 2017.

The objective of installing J-turns is “stop these T-bone accidents, have fewer people crossing the highway,” Jones said.

J-turns are traffic safety features that designate certain spots for vehicles to turn to go in the opposite direction. J-turns eliminate motorists from being able to cut straight across oncoming traffic. Once the J-turns are finished, workers will overlay that same stretch of highway, Jones said.

But J-turns will just be a temporary safety solution until officials secure funding to build permanent overpasses at Thorguson Road, Southeast Boulevard and Red Cypress Road, Jones said. Those overpasses are part of the I-49 south project to upgrade U.S. 90 to interstate quality from Lafayette to New Orleans.

Jones intends to write a highway bill in the Legislature to try to secure funding to construct those overpasses. Jones is also working to get funding for Berwick to finish its sewer project on Old Spanish Trail, he said.

During the meeting, the council preliminarily approved plans to build a 38-lot residential development on Fairview Drive. Councilmen Troy Lombardo, Duval Arthur and Greg Roussel voted to grant preliminary approval, while Council members Damon Robison and Jacki Ackel voted against it.

The development met all of Berwick’s subdivision regulations, except that blocks in the subdivision are over 1,500 feet and exceed the regulations, Planning and Zoning Director Gary Beadle said. The planning and zoning committee recommended the council preliminarily approve the subdivision with the exception of the size of the blocks.

But the council granted a 300-foot variance that developers requested to provide for a turnaround.

Sidney Roy, who owns property in the proposed subdivision, said organizers plan for the subdivision to be “exclusive” and not have side streets coming into the development.

In other business, the council
—Introduced a flood damage prevention ordinance.
—Approved a liquor license for Dollar General.
—Accepted a resolution of respect for Donovan “Donnie” Leblanc for his years of service to the community.