Although roads in and around New Orleans remain closed
from Hurricane Katrina's devastation, repairs on one of the area's roadways
most damaged by the storm have begun.
On Monday, Sept. 12, work began on the
Interstate 10 Twinspan Bridge in New
Orleans, which was severely damaged in the storm and
subsequent flooding.
"Restoring this critical eastward link for New Orleans will speed
recovery of the city and the entire Gulf region," Transportation Secretary
Norman Y. Mineta said in a press release. "Every day we're getting road work
started to reconnect the region and help people rebuild."
According to the press release, the work was
contracted to New Orleans-based Boh Bros. Construction Co. Under the contract,
the bridges must be finished within 45 days, and includes a $50,000-per-day
incentive to finish the work ahead of schedule.
At least 100 miles of roadway on U.S. 90 in Louisiana were also "basically wiped out," Mineta told The
Associated Press. A temporary roadway will be completed within 90
days while the permanent highway is reconstructed, the Department of
Transportation press release said.
In an interview with The AP on Sept. 4, Mineta said repairs to
Interstate 10 and U.S. 90 alone would cost at least $1.5 billion.
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and state
Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Johnny B. Bradberry
announced that the Twinspan Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain will be repaired and functional
within 45 days, thanks to more than $30 million in emergency repair funding,
the Lafayette Daily Advertiser
reported on Monday, Sept. 12.
The following is the complete list of closed
roadways throughout Louisiana:
- All roads into New
Orleans;
- All roads into St. Bernard and Plaquemine Parish;
- Interstate 10 east at U.S. 51;
- Interstate 10 east at Causeway
Boulevard;
- Interstate 10 west at LA 433 (Old Spanish Trail);
- Interstate 10 Twinspan
Bridge;
- U.S. 90 at the Orleans Parish line;
- U.S. 90 at Interstate 310;
- Interstate 55 south at Interstate 10;
- U.S. 61 south at St. Charles Parish line;
- U.S. 61 south at Kenner
City (Jefferson
Parish) line;
- U.S. 61 south at Shrewsbury
Road;
- River Road at the Orleans Parish line;
- U.S. 11 at Little Irish Bayou; and
- U.S. 11 Bridge south of Slidell.
In Alabama,
the only road that remains closed is AL 44 east of U.S. 78, which was shut down
due to a landslide. However, a number of roads in Mobile,
Sumter, Choctaw,
Marengo, Tuscaloosa, Washington,
Clarke, Baldwin and Marion
counties remain under advisories as debris cleanup and roadway repair
continues.
Road conditions have improved dramatically in
southern Mississippi.
With the exception of U.S. 90, which runs through the state from Alabama to Louisiana,
all roadways are open in the state. However, the Mississippi Department of
Public Safety is still urging caution as hurricane cleanup carries on
throughout the area.
Because of the nature of a natural disaster,
road conditions and closings are prone to change at a moment's notice. For an
up-to-date list of closings in specific areas, visit the following states' Web
sites for more information:
- By Aaron
Ladage, staff writer
aaron_ladage@landlinemag.com
