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Residents of Terrebonne Parish have been waiting nearly 15 years for a solution to traffic woes on the East side, as the Prospect Street Bridge has struggled to keep up with the demands of motorists.
Locals are quickly learning, however, that the long-awaited-for replacement to the two-lane structure will come with a price.
Officials working for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development were out in full force Thursday during a public hearing at the Government Towers in Houma, ready to tackle an onslaught of concerns from weary drivers.
The $26.7 million project will replace an existing vertical lift span bridge – now somewhat antiquated – with a similar six-lane structure that will stretch over Bayou Terrebonne on La. 3087. Additional lanes will encourage a better flow of traffic and prevent congestion in an area that sees more than 18,000 drivers daily, according to officials.
Construction is slated to begin May 24 and will carry a two-year timeline. “The longer we delay this, the more it’s going to hurt,” explained DOTD Area Engineer Lyle Leblanc. “We’ve been having trouble keeping up with [Houma’s] infrastructure. Our area is growing so fast.”
Building a non-movable, fixed bridge would be less costly and more time efficient. But that is not an option, as Coast Guard regulations bestow the right-of-way on people traveling the waterways, explained Leblanc. Therefore, the new bridge must lift, catering to those individuals.
The existing bridge, on average, “…is lifted about five times a month,” Leblanc told listeners. “About 60 times a year.” That statement was met with opposition, as some said in their 20 years traveling near Prospect Street, they had not seen the bridge raised more than a couple of times.
During the project, motorists will be forced to take the Howard Street Bridge on La. Highway 661, the Daigleville Bridge on La. Highway 57, or the La. Highway 24 Bridge that lies to the south. All are more than a mile away.
Prospect Street, or La. Highway 3087, will be widened from four to five lanes south of La. Highway 24 and from three to six lanes between the bridge and La. Highway 659. While those moves are expected help ease the backlog of vehicles, officials admitted there would be a few snags once things get started.
“We do know there’s going to be some impact,” said DOTD District Administrator Mike Stack.
“It will be a mess the first two weeks,” added Leblanc. “We’re going to do our best to monitor it, but there’s going to be some problems.”
With the construction of the Howard Street Bridge looming in the background – its extended completion time of nearly four years and a lagging construction crew – residents continued to voice concern at the meeting.
Those residents, living mostly on the east side of Houma, also gave way to greater fears of neglect by parish officials that have, over the years, seemingly favored funneling resources to the west side.
Although the claims couldn’t be substantiated, the handful of council members in attendance didn’t have a response.
Growing up on the east side for most of her life, Marsha Williams said she remembers when there were still dirt roads in the parish. Without alluding to details, she said, “I know the things that have happened, but I still remain hopeful.”
Williams, alongside her husband Rene, have lived through the haggles of past projects. They admit the bridge needs to be replaced, but are reluctant to believe officials’ plans to keep traffic moving during construction will actually work.
“We’ll be watching,” Williams told Leblanc.
Stack assured the audience that this time things would be different. Officials will be coordinating their efforts with local law enforcement, emergency workers and DOTD staff to ensure traffic lights are timed correctly and problem areas are addressed.
“We have to use the system also,” he reminded those in attendance at last week’s meeting.
The contractor, James Construction of Baton Rouge, will also face a fine of $5,000 for each day of work that occurs beyond the expected completion date, said Stack. Similar contracts were not used when the Howard Street Bridge was built.
Construction on a four-lane replacement for the Prospect Street Bridge will begin in about two weeks. Area residents are concerned that things will not move as smoothly as officials are touting. * Photo by MICHAEL DAVIS
