Residents living in the 7th Ward are calling for their voices to be heard in the state’s proposed improvement project for North Broad Street.
The project aims to address safety and infrastructure concerns in the area.
Steve Brown, a 71-year-old hit-and-run victim, shared his experience of being struck while riding his scooter near North Broad and Onzaga on Oct. 17.
“All this time done zoomed by. I still feel the same, dizzy spells in my head,” Brown said. “I got hit by a car.”
Brown said he has spent the last month recovering at home with the help of a cane and walker.
“If they hit me like that in a hit and run, what could she say? They was wrong. They shouldn’t hit me and kept going,” Brown said. “I didn’t even make it out the block, so he had to hit me at the corner.”
Morgan Clevenger, president of the Fairgrounds Triangle Neighborhood Association, spoke about the dangers residents face daily due to an increase in crashes and hit-and-runs.
“You’re literally taking your life into your hands,” Clevenger said.
She described the stretch of North Broad between Bayou Road and St. Bernard Avenue as a “speedway,” and stressed the frequency of serious accidents in the area.
“Particularly this stretch between Bayou Road and St. Bernard Avenue, heavily residential, it has become a speedway and we have had so many serious wrecks. They’re not just a fender bender,” Clevenger said.
The Department of Transportation and Development is proposing improvements for US-90 from Lafitte Avenue to France Road, including neutral ground modifications, roadway resurfacing, and accessibility upgrades.
The community, however, wants to be involved in shaping the plans before construction begins.
“There’s a lot going on on North Broad and how do we all share the road safely? And I think at this point, an investment in North Broad from the state in terms of an infrastructure project should really be community-led in terms of what we know, what we see,” Clevenger said.
If the project moves forward as planned, construction is expected to begin in 2027.
A town hall meeting hosted by state representatives and senators will take place Thursday at 7 p.m. at The Broadside.
READ MORE:WDSU Road Patrol: 7th Ward residents want input on North Broad safety project
