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Construction on South Hollywood road in Houma is still on schedule for completion by mid-January, according to Terrebonne Parish officials.
Workers are currently installing drainage culverts and a 24-inch sewer main and as soon as that work is done within two to three months, passersbys may “hopefully” begin seeing crews pouring concrete to complete the project, said Robert Williams, project engineer for Providence/GSE Associates, the architectural engineering firm coordinating the project.
“It’s [coming along] slowly but surely,” Williams said. “Once we get this 24-inch force main taken care of, things will start moving a little bit quicker.”
A force main is a pipeline that moves wastewater under pressure. The new material can be seen stacked on the side of the road ready to be installed.
Earlier this year, while workers were replacing the gas main lines, many old, abandoned pipes were found, Williams previously told The Times.
Now, all of the natural gas lines have been replaced, however, they are not in service just yet, but have been pressure tested and ready to go, Williams said.
The mass of utility lines beneath South Hollywood Road has presented engineers and workers with a challenge. The crisscrossing of water, sewage, natural gas, phone and Internet lines are like a “spaghetti bowl,” said Jeanne Bray, capital projects administrator for Terrebonne Parish.
“The utilities is (sic) the most complicated part of the project,” said Joan Schexnayder, an engineer with Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government. “Everything else is going to move real smooth once we get the utilities out of the way.”
Work on the next phase of construction, the extension of South Hollywood Road all the way to Southdown Mandalay Road, is in the preliminary planning stage, Schexnayder said. Land surveyors are in the process of surveying the proposed route. After a preliminary route is determined, property owners in the path will be contacted and made offers by parish officials.
Currently, Schexnayder said, the area is forested land owned by a number of people.
Business along the corridor has been affected. Kelly Pizzolato, part-owner of Something Blue Bridal at South Hollywood Road and Corporate Drive, said a couple of businesses nearby have moved because on the construction, but that her business is not suffering tremendously.
“I think it’s definitely affecting us a little,” Pizzolato said.
Some people have told Pizzolato they avoid the area completely. Summer is a slow period in the dress and tuxedo market, she said, but homecoming season is nearing and she expects business to pick up as it always does.
“I just look forward to the new, pretty road,” Pizzolato said. “I know its progress. We need it. I’m happy about that, for sure.”
