Causeway approaches widening to three lanes

By Matthew Penix
St. Tammany News
Published on Wednesday, January 7, 2009 8:44 AM CST

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The clogged commute to and from the Causeway through Mandeville will see a multi-million dollar dose of relief by year’s end.

Causeway Commission officials on Tuesday approved a six-month, $5.09 million construction project to widen both south and northbound approach lanes from two lanes each to three each.

“As a Northshore resident this is a big project for people who commute every day,” said Klye France, secretary of the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission. “Commuters are going to be very, very happy about this.”

Shelby P. LaSalle Jr., CEO of Metairie-based design firm Krebs, LaSalle, Lemieux Consultants Inc., the agency in charge of the project, estimated a roughly 30 percent increase in traffic flow.

Barriere Construction Co. LLC., was awarded the project for its $5.09 million bid, the lowest from five bidders.

In various forms, both directions to and from the bridge will be extended from two lanes three, ultimately extending as far north as Louisiana Highway 22. From a bird’s eye view, the improvements, once finished, will look like six lanes instead of four.

Construction is slated to begin in 60 to 90 days and last 180 days or roughly six months, according to project specifications.

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Comments

3 comment(s)

Anonymous wrote on Jan 19, 2009 9:10 PM:

" Toward Causeway in the morning, Causeway should have priority over Brookside with traffic signals. It does not which creates backups.

Going home, unless many cars exit at 190 near K-Mart, the extra lane won't help "

John wrote on Jan 16, 2009 11:31 AM:

" How about... STOP THE DEVELOPMENT on the northshore! If mandeville, covington, and St. Tammany in general would STOP approving uncontrolled growth we would have much less traffic! When will the people realize we need to stop trying to be reactive and proactive! "

Steve wrote on Jan 9, 2009 6:42 AM:

" If the Causeway would just use high-speed tags, they wouldn't have the clog-ups that they have now and wouldn't have to widen the approach. They are using 30 year-old tag technology. You would think that someone would understand that and fix the issue that way instead of these huge projects that burden the tax-payers. "

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