Prospects questioned for Terrebonne bridge

Expectations were high 29 months ago when site-work began for a new Prospect Street bridge. Now, the $26.7 million project, which included widening parts of Main and Prospect streets as well as replacing the two-lane span with a six-lane vertical lift bridge have elected officials and area residents wondering when the job will be completed and what it will mean in the long run.

An original finish date was May 2012. That was changed by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development to August 2012. The most recently posted completion target is November 2012. To-date there have been five official construction delays, which range in reason from waiting for parts to shutting down for Hurricane Isaac.

“DOTD’s contractor has been working six to seven days a week to deliver this project,” LDOTD spokesperson Bambi Hall said in an email response. “Though it has had its share of challenges, it will be delivered safely and efficiently for the citizens of Terrebonne Parish.”

Andy Cotton lives in the bridge’s morning shadow on Sharon Street. The project for him has been a problem not only with traffic, but flooding from Bayou Terrebonne, which he blames on elevating Main Street to 12 feet above sea level and directing drainage flow toward his and other homes on the bayou side of Park Avenue.

“It has taken too long [to build],” Cotton said. “My mother lives across the bayou and we’ve got to get out and go [left on Park Avenue] to turn around to go [to the nearest crossing or toward downtown Houma] to get there,” Cotton said, while a former and future span of Bayou Terrebonne is less than one block away from his home.

In addition to congested traffic Cotton said drainage changes with the new bridge is shooting water straight into the homes of his neighborhood. “I flood now worse than ever,” he said. “I used to be one foot above sea level. Now I’m below zero.”

“There is something going on,” state Rep. Lenar Whitney said of the construction area in her district. “It has really been going on forever. At first I heard it was because of parts, but they didn’t even build this bridge with new parts. It’s already old.”

A week later, Whitney was unable to deliver answers for her concerns.

The contractor, James Construction Group, was offered telephone and email opportunities to offer comments on the bridge project, but did not respond to questions.

Cotton blamed part of the bridge construction delay on residents of Terrebonne Parish. He said he called the contractor early one morning when youths were intentionally damaging the structure.

“They had boys that vandalized the bridge and the house,” Cotton said. “The boys threw bolts and nuts off the top of the bridge and hit the barge. I called the [contractor] and they had to get the bolts and nuts from Switzerland because that is where the motors came from. That was almost a six week delay right there.”

Area residents have taken their angry complaints to the Terrebonne Parish Council. However, the Council can do little more than any other resident since the Prospect Bridge is a state project on a state highway.

Terrebonne Parish Councilman Pete Lambert said he had driven past the bridge on several occasions and not witnessed any work activity. “Aren’t they supposed to pay a fine for every day past their original deadline?” Lambert asked.

“Most public contracts, just about everyone the parish lets for public works, have a liquidated damage provision,” Terrebonne Parish Manager Al Levron said. “This means there is a specific period of time authorized for the project and if the contractor exceeds that time without justification, the contract provides to pay a stipulated amount back into the contract. Basically, it is a contract offset [and] all public contracts have that.”

Terrebonne Parish Councilman Greg Hood volunteered to make some telephone calls, but came back with limited information. “What I was told was due to problems that occurred, the fine issues don’t apply,” he said.

“A lot of people don’t have a clear distinction between state level and parish level,” Levron said. “They come before the parish to discuss a problem that is out of our control. Certainly, we can relay those concerns to the state, but the most appropriate place for complaints to be lodged is with the state agency or state legislative delegation.”

Cotton said he would like to see Terrebonne Parish hold LDOTD financially accountable for delays and damages to homeowners impacted because of Prospect Bridge construction. “The state ran out of money,” he said. “So, that’s probably not going to happen. It’s not good.”