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Far above Bayou Boeuf, where alligators lurk and egrets stand sentry, the cars clatter and when the water is right, the crownwork of a lift-bridge lords over everything like a skyscraper built in the middle of nowhere.
But plans for needed repair work on the structure have sparked a panic among some of the area’s residents and business owners, particularly those on the west bank of the bayou. They say the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development must come up with a way to allow access across the bayou, particularly for emergency vehicles, all of which are stationed on La. 307 between the bayou and La. 20 in Chackbay.
“We are going to be cut off from reaching those people,” said Brandon Kraemer, president of the Bayou Boeuf Volunteer Fire Department. “Members of our department have gone on calls to Torres Road where our being there was a life and death difference. A majority of the people there are elderly.”
Kraemer, as well as other fire department members, say they don’t think state officials are looking outside the box enough for solutions that can help while the $873,500 project is underway.
“If they are going to do that they need to put us a pontoon bridge or something temporary to have like they do in other places,” Kraemer said. “We are taxpayers just like everybody else.”
Inconvenience and roundabout access for emergency services are common in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes, where bayous intersect major highways at many locations. In Bourg, bridge repairs for a short period of time last year caused major traffic snarls on La. 24 and at Country Drive. The closure of the Valentine Bridge in Lafourche has caused major headaches, and the lower La. 316 Bayou Blue Bridge closure for a lengthy period made access a nightmare for some enclaves.
But Bayou Boeuf residents say their geography is so unique – one way in and one way out, period – that special considerations should be made.
Greta Nassar, a spokeswoman for Sen. Gary Smith Jr. (D-Norco), whose District 19 includes part of Bayou Boeuf said he is aware of the situation and sensitive to the concerns of residents.
“He doesn’t want to see the bridge closed completely and is looking to see how the department will make a more workable situation,” Nassar said. “We have already contacted DOTD to set up a dialogue.”
DOTD spokeswoman Bambi Hall, after viewing a number of potential solutions fielded by residents, said the bridge must be kept with its roadway raised during the project – the position it is in for boats to pass – because the Coast Guard requires marine traffic to be unimpeded.
“The work being done under this project requires the bridge to be immobilized, so it either needs to be secured in the down position, closed to marine traffic, open to vehicular traffic or secured in the up position, open to marine traffic, and closed to vehicular traffic,” Hall explained. “In speaking to Mr. David Frank of the US Coast Guard while preparing the project, he didn’t want the bridge closed to marine traffic. There’s no alternate routes for boats. Bayou Boeuf Elementary school is in very close proximity to the bridge. The bridge would not be able to be fully closed to vehicular traffic while school is in session. One consideration was to perform the work during the school’s Christmas break. There was concern that it wouldn’t be enough time to get the work done, especially with the risk of inclement weather at that time of the year, so it was decided that summertime would be best, which happens to be the busiest time for marine traffic, especially with the two swamp tour businesses nearby.”
Torres Swamp Tours, located on the west bank, does not need to cross under the bridge to operate, tending to bring guests away from the bridge through the alligator and turtle-rich bayou waters.
“This will kill out business at the height of our season,” said tour operator Roland Torres. “Much of our business travels over the bridge.”
Zam’s Swamp Tours, located on the other side of the bridge, can adapt to a closure of the bridge to marine traffic, its proprietors said, by docking boats on land it has access to beyond the bridge on either bank.
Hall said the closure is expected to last three weeks.
“A day or two I can see but three weeks is too much,” Torres said.
“The main phase of work that requires the bridge to remain inoperable is the replacement of the cables that raise and lower the bridge,” she said. “The bridge actually has to remain in a fixed position during that work. That work should be able to be done in about two weeks. The extra week was given to account for any issues that may arise. The other big phase of work includes replacing all of the electrical wiring on the bridge. That will cause the bridge to be inoperable, but it can be moved up and down manually with the help of equipment. It was specified that the contractor do as much of the electrical work as possible simultaneously with the cable replacement since the bridge will already be immobilized. Outside of the allowable closure period, if the bridge is inoperable due to any remaining electrical work, the contractor has to keep one lane of traffic open and also manually operate the bridge for marine traffic. I’m sure the project engineer can urge the contractor to do the cable replacement as quickly as possible and maybe the full three weeks won’t be needed.”
Even one week, the emergency workers and residents say, is too much if a life is at stake. The closest fire company on the west bank is in Raceland. The distance from the Raceland firehouse to the foot of La. 307, at the CSX railroad tracks, is about six miles. After that, apparatus and volunteers must traverse 9.6 miles of cane fields and cypress forest on La. 307.
“When the project went through the environmental clearance process it was requested that we coordinate with all local agencies, businesses, and emergency personnel,” Hall said. “The project engineer or the contractor should be doing that.”
This is one of the chief issues residents have brought up. If there were any meetings concerning the bridge project, they say they never got the memo. Officials say there was some sort of a meeting perhaps a year ago.
As for alternatives, Hall said the scope and size of the project would eliminate most possibilities.
“On large-scale projects, bridge replacement, major rehab, consideration is given to providing an alternative crossing such as a temporary detour bridge. This is a small-scale, short duration project,” Hall said. “To provide another way to cross the channel would have required a temporary detour bridge or a floating pontoon bridge, (barges) or a ferry, all of which would have to be movable to allow marine traffic to pass. Providing one of those alternatives would not only cost more possibly than the work being done here, but it would also require some temporary agreements with neighboring landowners because there’s not enough existing right of way to provide another crossing. None of these alternative crossings were really considered due to the cost and what would be involved in providing them.”
Parish councilwoman Luci Sposito has been in touch with DOTD but got similar answers.
“The contract time is 120 calendar days, which will begin next week when the electricians begin working,” Sposito said. “The three week closure will start at the beginning of June. Outside of the three week closure period, the contractor will maintain through traffic across the bridge at all times. There will be some alternating, one-lane closures depending on the work activity, but traffic will be maintained.”
The Coast Guard position of requiring that the channel be open to marine traffic is something Sposito said she is familiar with.
“I’ve only seen them allow short duration closures of up to a half day or so to allow a repair or construction activity that will block the channel. Other than that, they want the bridge open to marine and closed to vehicles,” Sposito said. “I don’t know where this is stated officially, but the Coast Guard has consistently held this position.”
In her Facebook post to residents, Sposito shared all information at her disposal to date.
But residents say they want more, including an accounting from the Coast Guard as to why, on a bayou where only the swamp tour boats are big enough to need the bridge, accommodations can’t be made.
“We want one lane open, nobody passes under it but the commercial fishermen anyway,” said long-time resident and turtle-hunter Cameron Loupe. “There are no tugboats here. There is no reason the bridge should stay closed.”
Residents of Bayou Boeuf and member of the hamlet’s fire department gather at the Kraemer Bridge to demonstrate solidarity. First responders and neighbors say a planned three week closure for repairs without alternative arrangements is unacceptable
