Parish officials recently estimated around 80 percent of the Lakewood Drive reconstruction project is now complete, with the road currently on target to be opened back up on schedule in February.
“As of Dec. 21, almost all roads are in place,” Samantha de Castro, St. Charles Parish Director of Communications said. “The contractor will pour the intersection of Lakewood and Heather Dec. 26 thru 31, and the remaining curbside and driveways will go in after the New Year.”
The long-awaited Luling road project was organized by parish officials to give a full reconstruction of Lakewood Drive, from East Heather to Highway 90.
Lakewood Drive is a well-traveled mixed-use Luling street that previously had numerous bumpy, rough patches along with regularly occurring drainage issues. The road project called for contractors to completely repave the street with a new eight-inch road base topped with another eight-inch layer of Portland cement concrete pavement, and further involved minor drainage and sewer repair.
After multiple discussions with the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), parish officials said several traffic upgrades will also be added where Lakewood meets Highway 90 as part of the project.
“The current northbound lanes exiting Lakewood had one dedicated lane for traffic that could turn left, go straight to Barton Avenue, or turn right,” de Castro explained. “The new configuration will have dedicated lanes for both turns and northbound traffic. DOTD will also reset the signal settings to reflect the change from one lane to three, making the intersection easier for all motorists to use.”
In a springtime town hall presentation held before work began, the road project’s contractor, Byron E. Talbot, laid out the project’s projected timeline, estimating completion to fall sometime around February 2024 – which so far appears to be on target. Road contractors now appear to be working on Phase 5 of the project, which according to parish road plan documents, is the final leg of the project.
“The original completion date was mid-February 2024, and we are on track to have the road open then,” de Castro said. “Additional cleanup, lane striping, and finishing touches will carry on until April, but should cause minimal interruption to traffic and residents.”
Some St. Charles Parish residents accustomed to typical road construction project delays and traffic inconveniences have commented the project has moved along better than expected.
Luling resident Kirk Sciacca, who lives in the nearby area and travels Lakewood Drive regularly, said work on the project has so far exceeded his expectations for a road rehaul project of this type.
“I thought it progressed a lot quicker than I initially assumed,” Sciacca said of the Lakewood Drive construction project. “They’re doing a good job…The hours that the road crews have been working, how they’ve managed to keep the road open, and the overall traffic flow seems to be working well.”
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