DOTD announces long-awaited project to improve roadway in Northeast Louisiana
Friday, January 27, 2017 at 9:59:07 AM
BATON ROUGE, La.—Today, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development announced that it recently took bids on a major project that will increase capacity and rehabilitate a roadway in West Monroe.
Construction is expected to begin in summer 2017 for a project that will widen a 3.2 mile stretch of Arkansas Road (LA 616) between LA 143 and Caldwell Road from two lanes to four lanes and add a center turn lane. The project was awarded to Gilchrist Construction Co. in November 2016 for $32.9 million and will replace the following signalized Arkansas Road intersections with roundabouts: Forty Oaks Farm Road, Good Hope Road, Kiroli Road and Warren Drive (LA 617).
A consultant work order was first issued in 1981. However, actual construction of the project has been delayed throughout the years due to changes in policy, scope and limited funding.
“This project, which will improve roadway conditions and quality of life for residents who travel along this corridor, speaks to the serious need for substantial transportation investment that ensures that projects never have to be delayed to this degree,” DOTD Secretary Shawn D. Wilson, Ph.D., said. “Unfortunately, many projects are pushed back repeatedly because we just don’t have necessary funding to support Louisiana’s growing transportation needs. The Governor's Transportation Task Force has provided meaningful policy recommendations to improve our state’s infrastructure in the future, and DOTD is committed to administering more rehabilitation and capacity projects like these for Louisiana.”
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