Belle Chasse Tunnel to close permanently on Dec. 20 amid traffic shift
Monday, December 18, 2023 at 1:44:20 PM
BELLE CHASSE, La. - The Belle Chasse Bridge and Tunnel Replacement Project announces plans for the permanent closure of the Belle Chasse Tunnel and the related traffic shift onto the newly constructed portion of the bridge will be effective the morning of Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
During this shift, the Belle Chasse Tunnel will permanently close to vehicular traffic. Lanes will shift on southbound LA 23 between Engineers Rd. and Barriere Rd., guiding motorists to travel on the newly constructed portion of the Belle Chasse Bridge. Motorists will continue to utilize the existing Belle Chasse Bridge when traveling northbound on LA 23.
There will be intermittent lane closures in this corridor performed during the daytime between 8:00AM to 2:00PM and during the nighttime between 7:00PM to 5:00AM during this timeframe. However, no traffic changes will occur between Sunday, December 24 and Tuesday, December 26, 2023, in observance of the Christmas holiday.
Tolling does not begin on the new Belle Chasse Bridge until its final completion, slated for Spring 2024.
In addition to this traffic shift, there will be a temporary detour of the right southbound turn from Engineers Road onto LA 23. Between Thursday, December 21, 2023, and Monday, January 29, 2024, motorists wishing to turn right from Engineers Rd. onto LA 23 will need to turn left from Engineers Rd onto LA-23 and use the Burmaster St. U-turn to then travel southbound on LA 23.
Road signs will be posted to route traffic through this area.
To sign up for project updates, please visit bellechassebridge.com and provide your email address for notifications to go directly to your inbox as the new bridge construction continues. Interested parties can submit questions to the project team via email at info@bellechassebridge.com. You can also follow the project on Facebook @BelleChasseBridge and Twitter @Bridge_BC.