|
Expanded I-12 may reach Juban
A state plan to widen Interstate 12 from O’Neal Lane to South Range Avenue may be extended as far east as Juban Road, officials said Tuesday.
Construction is set to begin April 2 and will take about two years, said Michael Bridges, undersecretary for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.
Earlier this year, lawmakers approved $100 million for a plan that would widen I-12 to six lanes from O’Neal Lane in Baton Rouge to South Range Avenue in Livingston Parish.
Ten people died in traffic accidents on the stretch of interstate highway over a three-month period last year.
Bridges told the House Transportation Committee that how far the widening will go will be one of the issues when the state decides who does the work.
“We are hoping we can get to Juban,” Bridges said after the hearing.
The stretch from O’Neal Lane to South Range Avenue is about 3 miles.
Pete’s Highway is another six-tenths of a mile and Juban Road is another 1.95 miles.
Widening I-12 from O’Neal Lane to Juban Road would lengthen the original project from about 3 miles to 5.6 miles.
Bridges said the state plans to get work permits to Walker in case the $100 million goes longer still.
The state plans to offer the work to joint teams of highway designers and contractors.
That method is called “design/build” and requires legislative approval.
The House Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works approved that method without dissent. The Senate transportation panel is expected to do the same on Thursday.
Bridges told lawmakers that a recent national survey said “design/build” trims work time by 14 percent and is 3 percent cheaper than traditional methods.
He said the survey showed finished projects had the same quality as those that rely on two separate steps – engineers to do the design work and contractors to carry it out.
Precise estimates on when the work will be complete are unclear.
State officials originally said the widening work would begin in 2010 and be done in 2013.
William Ankner, secretary for DOTD, said in March that he hopes it can be finished by 2011.
Bridges said on Tuesday that the widening would be finished in about two years – around mid-2011 – but also told lawmakers it would be open for traffic by 2012.
“Two years from 2009 puts us in 2011 or early 2012,” he said later when asked to elaborate.
Bridges also said that about $50 million will be needed to replace bridges in both directions over the Amite River.
Plans to widen I-12 have been on the drawing books for years. However, Louisiana’s $14 billion backlog of road and bridge work has kept I-12 work and dozens of other high-profile repairs from getting started.
“It is going to be an asset to East Baton Rouge Parish and it is certainly going to be an asset to our folks in Livingston Parish,” said Rep. J. Rogers Pope, R-Denham Springs and a member of the committee.
About 80,600 vehicles go past O’Neal Lane daily and 53,600 go past South Range Avenue, said Brendan Rush, a spokesman for DOTD.
Rep. Hollis Downs, R-Ruston and another panel member, called the worksite one of the most dangerous stretches in the state.
“That is why this has become such a high priority,” Downs said.
By WILL SENTELL
Advocate Capitol News Bureau
Published: Apr 30, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:15 a.m.
|
Linear Mode
