Montz resident Dorothy Richard, 65, who died on May 22 after her vehicle became submerged in the murky canal off of Airline Highway, is remembered as a caring woman who only wanted the best for her family and community.
Former District VI Councilman Lance Marino had plenty of dealings with Richard over the years, all of which he remembers fondly.
“She always let me know what improvements were needed in her neighborhood and she did so in a constructive and positive manner,” Marino said. “Whether it was street lighting or anything else, she was always on top of it and really pushed to get those things taken care of.”
But Marino didn’t just know the retired postal worker from his time as a councilman – his childhood home was on her mail route.
“I knew Dorothy since I was very young,” he said. “She wasn’t just a mail carrier to me – she became a family friend.”
Marino said that Richard always kept up with the goings on of his family and was always interested in what he was doing in his life. Recently, Marino would visit with Richard at the recreation fields, where he was watching his children partake in sports and Richard was there cheering on her grandchildren.
“She was very active in her grandkids’ lives,” Marino said. “She was always present in everything they were doing, whether that be at the rec parks or at school.”
Councilman Marcus Lambert, who currently represents District VI, said that Richard will remain a role model for her community.
“This is a terrible tragedy and my heart goes out to Dorothy Richard’s family,” he said. “I will always remember her eagerness to get involved in the community and her smiling face.
“I pray that the guardrail project on U.S. 61 (Airline) will prevent further incidents like this from taking place.”
Guardrail on way, but is stop light needed too?
RMD Holdings Ltd had the apparent lowest bid ($1.56 million) on the guardrail barrier project that would parallel 5.5 miles of Airline Highway. The company said they would only need 52 days to complete the barrier, according to the Department of Transportation and Development’s Web site.
The steel guardrail barrier will start north of LA 50 and its end in Norco will coincide with the end of the canal.
Last August, Senate President Joel Chiasson helped secure $1 million in funds to be used towards a barrier on Airline. Though a cable barrier system was considered, since it supposedly stops vehicles from bouncing back into traffic, state engineers decided that a steel guardrail would work best.
Any type of barrier will be tough to install on Airline in the first place because the soil along the road is so swampy.
Councilman Larry Cochran said that a guardrail barrier is better than nothing, but that he believes a cable barrier would have been a more suitable choice because it would have snagged wayward vehicles. Still though, Cochran said that a simple stop light at St. Rose Avenue would have been enough to prevent Richard’s death.
“I have been lobbying the state for a red light at St. Rose Avenue, but they have told me ‘no’ because they think a light there would cause people to get rear-ended,” he said. “I have responded to a number of calls there (Airline Highway) because I have been a fireman for 25 years. Speed is a factor in a lot of the fatalities, and if you can stop traffic and have people have to start again heading towards Ormond, that would slow the speed of the vehicles down.
“I really think a red light would have prevented the most recent accident and that that lady would still be alive today if we had one.”
Councilwoman Wendy Benedetto agrees that a traffic light would go a long way towards preventing deadly accidents.
“We have been begging to get stop lights set up at St. Rose Avenue and at Airline,” she said. “We need to stay on top of this and make sure this problem is taken care of.
“Too many lives are being lost.”
Councilwoman Carolyn Schexnaydre is also pushing a resolution that would ask the state to lower the speed limit in St. Rose and Destrehan to 45 mph. The council should vote on the measure on June 15.
Though a barrier has been sought for years, the debate heated up in 2003 after two crashes resulted in six fatalities, including four children.
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