LADOTD bids $13 million on Airline Highway in Ascension Parish to overlay roads

Posted: Nov 8, 2023 / 09:48 PM CST

Updated: Nov 8, 2023 / 10:19 PM CST

ASCENSION PARISH, LA. (BRPROUD) — In Ascension Parish, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) has secured $13 million for road work along Airline Highway between La. 74 and La. 42.

Garrett Stuprich has lived in Ascension Parish for more than 10 years and says the roads along Airline Highway in Prairieville need to be fixed.

“They got a lot of cracks and bumps and if you’ll be driving and go a little bit off the edge just a little bit, you could hit potholes everywhere,” says Stuprich. “I think they should definitely put a lot of the tax money to it and fix the roads for sure.”

Those who live in Ascension, like Stuphrich, will be getting some relief, but not for a while. DOTD has been given the ‘green light’ after bids on 12 projects across the state were received, totaling $64 million.

The biggest and priciest project is Airline Highway, which needs to be milled, patched, and overlayed to get rid of the rough ride.

The project is five miles long off of Airline Highway between La. 74 and La. 42, costing $13 million.

Due to extensive heat this past summer, the roads along the highway have buckled at an exponential rate. Between the highway being heavily traveled, old age and the heat, it was time to find a contractor to fix the issue.

According to the Communications Director of LADOTD, Rodney Mallett, he says the project is more expensive compared to others, because of the number of lanes and miles.

“It’s very expensive to mill and overlay a highway,” says Mallett. “Especially a four-lane highway, but this area needed it, and it’s heavily traveled.”

Mallett says due to the highway being heavily traveled, construction workers will only be working at night. He says the project could take longer to finish due to only working certain hours.

“Because of the high number of vehicles that go through there,” says Mallett. “The traffic congestion would be really awful if we did day and night work.”

Mallett says he plans to complete the project by the winter of 2024. He would like drivers to look into alternate routes to avoid congestion.

Below is a list to use to find alternate routes recommended by Mallett.