Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – St. John officials announced Monday that the parish has awarded a construction contract for improvements to Carrollwood Drive in LaPlace and said construction could begin as soon as the beginning of October.

At a special meeting Monday, the council approved a low bid of roughly $567,000 from Thigpen Construction of St. Rose. The council voted 8-0 in favor of approval with Division A Councilman-at-Large Dale Wolfe absent from the meeting. The announcement brings an end to a lengthy struggle between the parish and officials from Wal-Mart regarding responsibility for repairs of the street. In a report submitted to the St. John Council in December, parish engineers concluded that damage to the street was caused by Wal-Mart delivery trucks that travel along Carrollwood Drive daily.

St. John Public Information Officer Buddy Boe said Thigpen’s bid came in well below previous estimates for the project. He said the parish had already set aside $500,000 for the project and added that Wal-Mart has committed an additional $150,000.

Ray Davezac of Davezac Engineers, the architect behind the project, told the council that the project calls for a complete resurfacing of Carollwood Drive from Dominican Drive to Airline Highway. He said crews would lay 12 inches of rock under an 8-inch thick layer of concrete, which will hold up better to the heavy truck traffic that frequents that part of the street.

In addition to the concrete overlay, Davezac said the project would also include replacement of a few hundred feet of sewer lines that also showed damage.

“Work will be done one lane at a time,” Davezac said. “Traffic detour signs will be up, and it will be an inconvenience for a time, but the end project will be something you will be proud of.”

Boe said Parish President Bill Hubbard has scheduled a pre-construction meeting with the St. John Sheriff’s Office, to coordinate traffic flow issues, and school board, to determine possible alternate routes for school bus drivers who use the street during the morning commute.

The contract calls for a maximum of 120 days of work and the parish anticipates that the work will be complete prior to the heavy Christmas shopping season.

“This is something I feel fair about,” said Division B Councilman-at-Large Steve Lee. “This is a real positive for the parish, and I am pleased that Wal-Mart stepped up to the plate to help us get this done.”