Traffic delays push Hwy. 90 work to nights

After day construction caused one headache of a traffic jam on Highway 90 last Friday, Barriere Construction has decided to perform a majority of the work on the $5.2 million project at night.

The company is patching, milling, paving and road widening portions of both the eastbound and westbound lanes of Highway 90. They hope to have the work completed by Thanksgiving, according to project manager Danny Donahoe.

Originally, Barriere Construction was going to have alternate one-lane closures on Highway 90 from Paul Maillard Road to the Des Allemands Bridge during the day while they performed patch work during the first two weeks of the project. That all changed after eastbound traffic was backed up from the I-310 exit all the way to Des Allemands last Friday.

“After that fiasco we decided to perform the patching at night,” Donahoe said. “We never expected the traffic to be that bad.”

Donahoe said that LSU’s first home game of the year combined with the second week of teal season to cause the massive delays. Still, he believes it’s best for everyone if the company only closes lanes from around 7 p.m. until 5 a.m.

The first two weeks of the project will consist of patch work and extending the westbound on ramp to I-310 and the eastbound turn lane to the interstate. Once they are finished with that phase, Barriere Construction will begin milling and paving. During this portion of the project, one-lane closures will take place on both sides of Highway 90 at the same time.

While only one lane on each side of Highway 90 will be open at night, Barrier Construction can only work on 3.5 miles of the roadway at a time.

Though a majority of the work will be completed at night, Donahoe said there are a few things that the company must take care of during the day. However, he doesn’t anticipate the work causing any problems.

“We are going to be working in the new turn lane, so it shouldn’t hold up traffic much,” he said. “We will also be working on the guard rails, but people probably won’t even know we’re there.”