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One of the newest roads in Terrebonne Parish is causing concern among local public officials, who say tragedy is in its future if a traffic light is not installed.
The Thompson Road Extension links La. 56 — the Little Caillou Road — to La. 57, also known as Grand Caillou Road, south of the well-traveled and well-known Woodlawn Ranch Road. Beautifully reflectored and stripe-lined, the Thompson Extension is gaining favor as an east-west byway between the two major north-south roads. But the increasing volume and chronic reports from drivers of close calls at both ends are garnering attention.
State Rep. Beryl Amedee R-Houma and State Rep. Tanner Magee R-Houma have both fielded complaints from constituents and are having dialogue with officials at the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. An initial study by the state indicated that a light is not warranted at either the La. 57 or La. 56 end. But, Amedee told members of the Terrebonne Parish Council last week, a new study using a different approach that could lead to a traffic light has now been promised.
Although a pattern has not yet been identified by engineers — in part because the raw number of wrecks at the intersections has not yet reached a crucial number — Amedee is hopeful that studies of what has occurred will lead DOTD to make the most appropriate recommendations.
From April 1, 2017 through July 21, 2016, there was a total of six wrecks related to the Thompson Road extension, according to Trooper First Class Jessie LaGrange of State Police Troop C in Gray.
“Four of those were injury crashes which resulted in three moderate injuries and nine minor injuries, respectively,” LaGrange said. “Also, four of the rashes involved two vehicles. There was one 3-vehicle crash and one 4-vehicle crash.”
One serious injury or death is way too many, said Terrebonne Councilman Dirk Guidry, whose district includes a portion of the extension.
“When I have gone and asked for a traffic light at Thompson Road it’s like it’s falling on deaf ears,” Guidry said during an interview last week. While he recognizes that the number of actual wrecks is lower for the time period than some other places in the parish, Guidry wants to guard against false sense of security. “I have the numbers from the State Police. But I can tell you right now that if the oilfield was booming there would be a lot more.”
Completed in May 2017, the road was a source of contention between the parish and the state from the time its completion was wrapping up.
Delays were caused by DOTD’s need to study potential traffic patterns. The ultimate decision was to have stop signs utilized, drawing a balk from Parish President Gordon Dove.
Parish crews installed new LED stop signs recently, hoping the lighted signals’ greater visibility will result in greater safety.
But nobody — including the state representatives — is confident that people blowing stop signs is the problem. Rather, they have suspicions based on anecdotal reports that people turning left or right while vehicles are traveling the state road at a high rate of speed could be a major factor.
DOTD officials consulted for this article said the first study was flawed because the parish had provided incorrect information. As the time for opening of Thompson drew near, a parish plan for shutting down Woodlawn Ranch Road in part to accommodate a runway extension at the Houma-Terrebonne Airport was under consideration. The closure never occurred, however.
