Highway 21 widening project slated to begin in the fall

Hammond-based Gilmore & Sons Construction Corp. should soon start widening Louisiana Highway 21 from two lanes to four in the fall, a parish spokesman said this week.

Gilmore & Sons won the contract July 29 with the low bid of $8.7 million. The work will extend the roadway 1,000 feet just north of Ochsner Boulevard to Bootlegger Road, parish spokeswoman Suzanne Parsons Stymiest said Monday.

The much-anticipated construction is one of several upcoming projects aimed to unravel traffic snarls that cause 20-minute or more delays during peak traffic hours.

Gilmore & Sons submitted the low bid July 29, and providing “all paperwork is in order,” the contract will be awarded this fall, Stymiest said.

Construction, including the addition of a median turn lane, will take approximately one year with the majority of the work performed at night to minimize traffic impact. Parish President Kevin Davis asked nearby businesses to be patient.

“Road improvements always come with the difficult construction period, but we must all patiently work around the inconvenience. We cannot improve the road any other way,” he said.

The project is one of several designed to relieve traffic on La. 21. Future improvements include a new bypass road heading northwest from the Ochsner/La. 21 intersection as well as widening other portions of La. 21.