Lafourche Parish moves forward, despite turnover
February 22, 2017
From jails to trucks: Law enforcement makes significant strides
February 22, 2017
In some ways government operations bear a resemblance to icebergs, with one portion highly visible, but its mass concealed below the surface.
In Terrebonne Parish, many plans for drainage, infrastructure and other projects are underway, garnering neither headlines nor any other form of attention, but existing nonetheless.
“Even though we are cutting in some departments we are still full steam ahead on ditches, roads and pump stations and none of that has stopped us,” says Parish President Gordon Dove. “It’s on a case by case basis with public works. You may cut certain money. But public safety is a number one concern. It doesn’t matter what it is, if it’s public safety.”
Special mats laid out in marshy areas to help rebuild eroding land, new connections between major thoroughfares already under construction and some still on planning tables – along with enhancements to critical pumping systems – are among the projects Dove has in mind for Terrebonne Parish’s present and future.
The parish will pay half the million dollar cost for gabion mats in the Lake Chien area. These mats are designed to create living reefs.
“It’s a good project,” Dove said, during a lengthy interview about Terrebonne’s future. The other half of the cost will come from a block grant.
Unseen by most passersby is the planned extension of Hollywood Road, which now terminates at Valhi Boulevard.
“We are still moving forward from Valhi to Southdown Mandalay Road and that is fully funded,” Dove said, estimating the cost at about $4 million. “There was a mitigation issue but that is moving forward accordingly and will go out to bid in about a month and a half.”
Already completed projects include a traffic circle on Corporate Drive, as well as the Hollywood Road widening between Highway 311 and Martin Luther King Boulevard.
The Bayou Gardens Boulevard Extension that will carry traffic from Coteau Road to Bayou Blue Road, Dove said, will be completed in about a month and a half.
Dove also said a widening of Country Drive in Bourg is well underway, a project actually begun years ago under the administration of former Parish President Barry Bonvillain. Federal money is being used for that project, but was not released until recently.
The contstruction of new roads in some cases will lead to further land development opportunities. The Bayou Gardens project has land that in some places is too low for construction on either side but in other spots will allow residential or commercial expansion.
In the middle they would have to lift it quite a ways. But you can see along Coteau and Bayou, a project that should see completion within about a month is an extension of Thompson Road, near the Houma airbase, stretching from La. 56 to La. 57.
“All they are waiting on is that a waterline needs to be relocated, which is a waterworks issue,” Dove said. “There is an AT&T line and we need to finish laying asphalt. It’s awfully close.”
Pumps are another big deal for the administration. A 3,000 cubic foot per second pump station is being built on the Elliot Canal to pump out Bayou Black. The heavily wooded, swampy areas of Chacahoula and Gibson are the catchpoint for water draining in from Assumption and Lafourche parishes, as well as Terrebonne.
“We have to get a pump station going,” Dove said. “I am pushing this forward March 6, 7 and 8 when I go to Washington, D.C.”
The area takes in a great deal of Athafalaya River backwater and can ultimately result in drainage problems for surrounding lands in Terrebonne. Dove said he wants to do everything possible to defeat that possibility.
Studies dating back to 2011 drew approval from a Corps of Engineers colonel.
Dove’s goal is to eventually be able to pump 77 million gallons of Atchafalaya backwater to a place where it won’t cause harm.
Finally, extension of Valhi Boulevard – which currently stops at Savanne Road – will be stretched to Bull Run Road at first, and could go as far as U.S. 90, under plans Dove is currently reviewing.
“That’s in the infant stages,” Dove said. “That would also make one more evacuation route, plus a buildup of commercial and residential property.
Another project Dove is working with is changing out of lights on key thoroughfares. Currently he is working with plans for replacing the lights that now illuminate the Schriever Overpass.
“You’d be surprised how many lights there are on the overpass,” Dove said, noting that several of the most important infrastructure projects will not be completed until way in the future. “I am focusing very much on the roads we have under construction. The idea is not to create a loop, but to create a traffic flow that can get around these main arteries that currently get backed up on traffic. It’s a critical step. If you don’t get started with your projects now you will never get them done.”
