LEONARD GRAY

PHOTO: PUTTING THEIR HEADS together, a few members of the Luling Beautification Committee discuss bike ramps. From left, Steve Finnegan, Edilia Kolb, Jennifer Osborne, Henry LeBoyd and Glenn Higgins. (Staff Photo by Leonard Gray) LULING – The Luling Beautification Committee discussed plans Wednesday to add a scenic and historical platform overlooking Paul Maillard Road. The committee is working to restore historical buildings, clean up and improve the “downtown” section of Luling from the River Road to the first set of railroad tracks and from Monsanto Park to the Hale Boggs Bridge. Among topics of discussion are the planned walking/bicycling trail which will eventually extend from the Jefferson to the St. John parish lines along the crown of the Mississippi River levee. This path is planned to have access ramps at each parish line, Bernard Avenue in Ama, Davis Drive in Luling, Paul Maillard Road in Luling, the West Bridge Park in Luling, Elm Street in Hahnville and at Killona Avenue. Steve Finnegan, landscape architect for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, conferred with local architect and committee member Glenn Higgins on feasibility of the outlook platform, which would be built part-way up the levee, facing Paul Maillard Road. The committee, which is chaired by Deidre Faucheux, also heard from Finnegan that the likely cost to install underground power lines along that section of Paul Maillard Road could cost $480,000, but it would have to be coordinated with BellSouth and Cox Cable, which use the same poles. Parish Councilwoman Dee Abadie said Entergy told her the project was cost-prohibitive because of that, but that grant money was available and is being applied for through South Central Planning. Other plans include a park at the corner of Paul Maillard and River roads, on the site of the former Corner Bar, which may include a commemorative plaque recalling the 1976 Luling ferry disaster.