The expansion of the East Bank bike path from the St. Charles Parish line in Destrehan to East Baton Rouge Parish has been put on hold because there was no money in the federal budget this year to start the study.
Bike path and pedestrian upgrades scheduled for the West Bank portion of the path, which covers Luling to Ama, have also been put on hold until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decides whether the bike path can coexist with the new levee.
Monica Salins, executive director for the Pontchartrain Levee District, says the study alone would cost $250,000.
“The project is called the Multi-Parish Bike Path, and when completed, it would connect the St. Charles, St. John, St. James, Ascension, and East Baton Rouge bike paths,” she said. “The bike path would be 115 miles long.”
Salins says she hasn’t heard anything else about the project since 2007.
“I think the last time the project was mentioned was in October,” she said.
The bike path extension for the West Bank in St. Charles parish has also been put on hold.
“The department of transportation has completed the design, but they’re holding off on the bids until we can see what our plans are for the St. Charles Parish levee,” Durund Elzey, project manager for the Mississippi River Levee project said. “We’re hoping to complete our coordination efforts with the Louisiana Department of Transportation so that they can complete the bike path and the two projects won’t interfere with each other.”
Elzey says the corps doesn’t want D.O.T.D. to put a bike path on the levee’s crown.
“We don’t want them to do that and then we have to come back in and do work on that same area,” he said. “We are going to be doing a levee enlargement, which is part of a systematic effort to provide flood protection.”
Elzey says the Army Corps of Engineers is trying to raise the height of the levee on the West Bank.
“We’re always looking at the levees and making adjustments where we feel they’re necessary,” he said. “The project on the bike path was supposed to go out for bid in July, but until we can look at the sequencing of events with the D.O.T.D, nothing is going to be done on the bike path.”
Although the corps is keeping the lines of communication open concerning the bicycle path, residents weren’t happy when they thought the bike path was going to be a thing of the past.
When finished, the project on the West Bank would extend 18 miles long and connect to the path being constructed in Jefferson parish.
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