Area residents will get to comment on a proposed I-310 flyover ramp aimed at easing traffic congestion on U.S. Highway 90 in St. Charles Parish.
The Regional Planning Commission (RPC), which begins the process to set the estimated $22.8 million project in motion with the state Department of Transportation and Development (LOTD) and Federal Highway Administration, will soon reschedule an open house to review project plans, said RPC Deputy Director Jeff Roesel.
The meeting was announced and then postponed to more thoroughly study the impact of I-49 corridor with the project, Roesel said.
Plans currently call for reconstructing the Highway 90 – I-310 Interchange or building a new two-mile flyover ramp. Councilman Paul Hogan, who said he initiated the ramp project in 2008 to ease congestion, called it “unfortunate that it’s been years since I passed that first resolution.” Hogan added, “It’ll be many years before we’ll ever see it built.”
The RPC said the ramp would improve capacity and safety.According to Hogan, “With the elimination of the traffic having to stop at that red light, it would completely eliminate the traffic backup and that’s why I proposed getting this done.”
Hogan is concerned the current plan will cause further delays and additional cost because the design extends the proposed ramp beyond the state right-of-way. Going this route, he maintained, will cause more impact on businesses, property owners and wetlands.
“It just needs to be built as soon as possible,” he said. Current RPC plans offer three alternatives, although Roesel said they are being reviewed and could change as more project details are gathered.
The first alternative involves studying the feasibility of a ramp connecting eastbound traffic on U.S. 90 with northbound traffic on I-310, which would eliminate the existing left turn. Additional improvements would be planned at the intersections of U.S. 90 with Tiger Drive and Paul Maillard Road – Magnolia Ridge Road, as well as changes in median openings.
The second alternative is similar to the first option but with the addition of an access road connecting Tiger Drive with U.S. 90 at a point about 3,000 feet to the west of Tiger Drive on the south side of U.S. 90 in Masella. The access road would ease additional traffic on Tiger Drive created by closing the intersection of U.S. 90 and First Street.
The last alternative or “no-build alternative” is basically improvements to the roadways on the west bank of St. Charles Parish without the ramp.
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