DOTD plans to preserve, repair La. 182, U.S. 90 bridges

The La. 182 bridge over Berwick Bay appears to be safe from being demolished after an announcement Tuesday that the state Department of Transportation and Development has plans to preserve and repair the bridge.
A statewide tour group of state legislators and staff on the legislative transportation committees stopped at the Port of Morgan City.
Tuesday’s tour came to Morgan City as part of the group’s look at the I-49 South project, Shawn Wilson, chief of staff at the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, said.
“This was important because the department has responsibility, some coordinating responsibility for ports and rail and multi-modal facets in the state,” Wilson said. “We wanted to give them an idea of the impacts of navigation and the importance of navigation as well as understanding what’s happening at the Port of Morgan City.”
Every year the state legislative transportation committees travel the state and go on what is called the “Transportation Road Show.”
“That’s where they visit with local elected officials and representatives and senators to talk about what projects are to be constructed over the next year,” Wilson said. “And they put projects in the hopper that are all considered by the department through its highway priority program.”
During the stop, state Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin, said that discussion from previous state leadership who wanted to look at tearing down the La. 182 bridge over Berwick Bay should now be dismissed, he said.
“Today, the highway department issued their proposal for this year, which I don’t think is going to change,” Jones said.
In that proposal, the department has $15 million in the plan to preserve the La. 182 bridge, he said. Department of Transportation and Development officials recognize that the bridge is used as an escape route and is vital to the community, Jones said.
The highway department’s proposal for funding projects also includes $21 million for preservation of the U.S. 90 bridge over Berwick Bay, Jones said.
“There’s a lot of reasons for that (La. 182) bridge to stay here,” Jones said. Legislators received requests from the City of Morgan City, Town of Berwick and St. Mary Parish officials to keep the bridge in use, Jones said.
“It’s one of those bridges that Huey Long built and O.K. Allen, and when they built those things, those things last a long, long time,” Jones said. “And we just want to make sure we keep it.”
The funding for both bridges also includes money to clean the bridges, Jones said. “In the past, we’ve never been on the list for anything,” Jones said. “This is a total change from DOTD’s thinking before about tearing it down. And they’ve agreed that we need to keep it maintained.”
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Morgan City Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said area officials had taken steps over the past couple years to try to prevent the La. 182 bridge from being torn down. “Once you get put on a program list, then more than likely within the next two to three years, we’ll have both those bridges repaired,” Grizzaffi said.
Area officials have also been trying to get the Department of Transportation and Development to clean both bridges more often, Grizzaffi said. District Engineer Administrator Bill Oliver of the Department of Transportation and Development told Grizzaffi Tuesday that department officials will “beef up cleaning detail on both bridges, more importantly the U.S. 90 bridge,” Grizzaffi said.
The bridge repair proposals will come before the state legislative transportation committees in the spring of 2015, and once approved, the projects will be in the “hopper” to be funded probably within the next two years, Jones said.