The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development will begin a $6.5 million repair project on the Crescent City Connection next week.
The project will involve the city-bound travel lanes and HOV lanes. It will not impact the West Bank bound bridge.
It is expected to impact traffic. DOTD is asking drivers to plan ahead, allow for extra travel time and consider alternate routes.
At 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3, the two far right lanes on the city-bound bridge will close. Crews will be installing concrete barriers overnight until Friday, Nov. 6.
Once the barriers are installed, the second from right lane will reopen. The far right lane will remain closed for the duration of the project. However, it will temporarily reopen for a couple of weeks starting Jan. 29 for Mardi Gras.
The project will also impact the HOV lanes. They will be fully closed from 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6 to 6 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 9. A later phase of the project will close one HOV lane but there is no date set for that work yet.
Southern Road and Bridge is the contractor for the project, which is expected to take 18 months to complete.
“We understand that it is a long period of time, especially since we just had similar closures for the bridge lighting project. We had a lot of lessons learned, so we plan on taking those lessons and incorporating them into this particular project,” DOTD Deputy Secretary Beau Black said.
The bridge is about 40 years old. DOTD said the project is meant to preserve and strengthen the structure.
“This is a renovation and preservation project which will add life to the existing structure. This is preventative. This is nothing that causes any concern to the department or should cause any concern to the traveling public. The bridge is safe to drive on,” Black said.
READ MORE:Louisiana DOTD to begin Crescent City Connection bridge repairs
