AMY SZPARA

VACHERIE – Several roads in St. James Parish are currently being evaluated for repairs, and one top-priority project in the parish will receive full state funding, something officials said is only granted to one out of nine parishes in that district each year. Louisiana Highways 643 and 644 in South Vacherie will get 100-percent funding from the state for repairs, according to Roy Schmidt, Region 61 engineer with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development in Baton Rouge. “We have one of these a year of state-funded projects, and this is it,” he said. Schmidt said the project did not get the funding out of favoritism, but out of need. “It got it because it’s the worst,” he said. He added the parish would be letting the contract this month and after a 45-day assembly period work can begin on the project. According to St. James Parish President Dale Hymel Jr., the stretch covers about three miles and repairs will consist of tearing out the old road and overlaying and reconstruction. Another road project in the works is Louisiana Highway 20, which will be both widened and heightened in parts of the roadway. Repairs to some areas of the highway are not being handled by Schmidt because they are in other parishes, but he is looking into what is being done on those fronts. “That’s been a problem we’ve had on this side of the river,” said Councilmen James Brazan at a recent council meeting in Vacherie. “Whenever we do anything, we’re competing with another district.” He then asked Schmidt about the borders and how the parish handles working with the other districts on projects. Schmidt said he was not familiar with the work being done at certain points at this time because they are out of his district. “On that road we are trying to do something,” he said. “That is one of the problems with DOTD,” he said adding that what happens outside of his border is usually not passed on to his office. Louisiana Highway 20 will be raised about 20 inches in some places by using limestone. The section to be repaired covers half a mile. According to Hymel, the part of the highway that runs between Vacherie and Chackbay is void of development and surrounded by swamp. The highway is narrow and has no shoulders. “There are a lot of accidents in that area,” he said. “People run off the road or run into the bayou.” After receiving a significant amount of pressure to widen the road, the parish will be broadening about three miles of it, adding a foot and a half to each side. Because of recent flooding problems, the construction crews will also overlay a portion of the road that was completely covered during Tropical Storm Allison. “You couldn’t find the road,” said Hymel. “We had to sandbag it to open it back up. We want to keep that from happening again. “We are hoping to maintain traffic. If it’s too dangerous, we may have to close the road and concentrate on that one area to speed it up.” Schmidt said if traffic had to be stopped in that area he would let the citizens know about it a week in advance. The road will be widened for safety purposes, said Schmidt, adding that it will not be a total reconstruction but more of a revamping of the highway.