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Snow and ice forced the closure of key water crossings in Terrebonne Parish Friday, snarling Houma traffic and in some cases slowing down emergency vehicles.
Late in the afternoon the parish’s president and its sheriff took matters into their own hands.
Sheriff Jerry Larpenter led a convoy of six 5-ton military trucks over blockaded bridges after his crews equipped them with snow plows. Parish President Gordon Dove authorized Parish Manager Mike Toups to load backhoe-pulled tractors with sand and salt for spreading on the state roadway overpasses, with Sheriff’s Office assistance.
Inmate trustys from the Terrebonne Parish jail also assisted.
As of 6 p.m. the Schriever overpass, a vital link for traffic traveling to and from Thibodaux, was shut down. U.S. 90, first closed Friday morning, remained shut down from St. Mary Parish eastward to the La. 24 exit in Gray. The Houma twin span and Prospect Street bridges were also closed.
Although parish officials said they were told by ranking DOTD personnel that funding is an issue that necessitates priorities, DOTD spokeswoman Bambi Hall said money is not the problem.
“We implement closures as necessary and out of an abundance of caution,” Hall said, “as the goal is to discourage motorists from driving during severe weather events.”
At nightfall Larpenter and his deputies had worked their plows over the Houma twin-span, whose afternoon shutdown had forced traffic to the Houma Tunnel, turning Barrow Street into a parking lot as frustrated drivers sought alternatives for crossing the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The lawmen then turned their sights on the Prospect Street Bridge. Another Intracoastal crossing, the Bayou Blue Bridge, was already closed for repairs and so was never an option for travel on Friday.
The closed bridges have steep inclines, increasing the risk that vehicles could slip and slide due to snow and ice. Road conditions throughout the area were expected to decline as Friday night wore on due to expected freezing temperatures.
“The state says they don’t have the personnel to do this,” Larpenter said. “How is that possible? They knew this weather was coming two days before today. Why weren’t
they ready?”
Some coordination did occur between parish and state officials Friday.
Tererbonne Parish Emergency Operations Director Earl Eues said he spoke with DOTD director Shawn Wilson to ensure that the Houma Tunnel would remain open. Eues also arranged for restrictions on vessels seeking to have the Houma Navigation and Dularge bridges opened up in order to pass.
Openings of the bridges were restricted to fifteen minutes every hour, to keep vehicular traffic from backing up. An evening curfew on marine traffic occurred as it normally does, which further allowed vehicles to travel. After that the 15-minute passage rules went back into effect. Eues said the state did salt and sand the Dularge Bridge.
In Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre reported that DOTD had committed to aid in keeping all highways heading into Port Fourchon open through the use of sand and salt.
State officials do not object to local agencies aiding in the manner the sheriff and the parish president have so far. However those local agencies are not reimbursed for manpower or materials.
The inclement weather was part of a system that brought rare snows to south Texas as well as south Louisiana. The system charged northeastward, wreaking havoc on airline schedules in Atlanta, and is expected to reach mid-Atlantic and New England states on Saturday.
The weather hit the local area harder than expected. At 12:30 p.m. Nicholls State University canceled classes and a half-hour later Fletcher Technical Community College followed suit.
State Police were kept busy with wrecks, and also with keeping motorists from driving around barricades blocking entrances to U.S. 90 in Terrebonne.
“We had a couple of regular road wrecks,” said Trooper Jesse LaGrange of the State Police. “People have been driving like they regularly drive, trying to do 70 and 80.” LaGrange said, indicating that some drivers chose not to slow down because of the weather conditions. “The more traffic flows the more people crash in the exact same spot.”
There were five or six wrecks Friday on U.S. 90 where it passes over Bayou Lafourche, LaGrange said.
After learning of problems local officials were having with DOTD resources, State Rep. Tanner Magee R-Houma contacted the DOTD secretary himself.
“Secretary Shawn Wilson said there is a winter weather protocol, that they have limited resources but that they will allow locals to do their job if they will do it,” Magee said. “DOTD in their protocol, determines which bridges and roads are identified as critical to keep open,” Magee said. “But I don’t disagree with Sheriff Larpenter. I realize there are limited resources, but if there is a state priority list it may not reflect local priorities. There needs to be some local control and a local component to allow people on the ground to move fast.”
The freeze warning for Terrebonne and Lafourche is expected to continue until 10 a.m. Saturday.
