By LEONARD GRAY

HAHNVILLE – A parish-wide comprehensive traffic count in St. Charles Parish gained parish council approval Monday, despite some public opposition.

Earl Matherne of the parish’s planning and zoning department, said the project had been in the works for a few years, and even budgeted, but delayed until now.

Eighty locations are to be counted in the $16,000 study by South Central Planning, to provide a baseline toward an eventual $300,000 parish-wide traffic study. The study will also provide information on speed and size of passing vehicles.

The company has already performed similar studies in Lafourche and St. Mary parishes. It would be a “snapshot” of current conditions, on which future studies could be based.

Some objections came from residents, who felt the work could be done in-house and that the data would be obsolete in six months. Matherne responded it would be more expensive to do the study in-house, from $50-75,000, and he said the data would be a template, upon which future studies would be based.

“If we had this five or six years ago, we might’ve gotten that Bayou Gauche light in Paradis sooner,” Councilman Terry Authement said.

At a recent meeting regarding a proposed traffic light on U.S. Highway 90 at Hahnville High School, one of the first questions raised by the highway department was whether such a study had been done. “We need all the ammunition we can get,” added Councilman Brian Fabre.

The study was approved in an 8-1 vote, with Councilwoman Dee Abadie voting against it. She said the price was right, but the company was inexperienced.

On Aug. 20, the council approved a requirement for traffic impact studies prior to construction approval of new subdivisions, in an attempt to get a handle on new subdivisions suddenly dumping volumes of new commuter traffic on roads.

The approval came despite the parish having no comprehensive traffic analysis to use as a base study, one of which would take 12-18 months to accomplish, according to Planning and Zoning Director Bob Lambert.

The ordinance, as originally proposed by Councilman G. “Ram” Ramchandran, would have required a traffic analysis study prior to approval of the preliminary plat for the subdivision. However, he was persuaded by Coulombe for the amendment changing the ordinance, and it was approved unanimously, with Clayton Faucheux absent.

Parish President Albert Laque vetoed the ordinance with April Black and Barry Minnich changing their votes to side with Laque’s position when the veto came up for review in September. Ramchandran, Authement and Abadie remained in opposition.

In other business, the leadership of DREAM was recognized for its ongoing efforts for scholars in providing mentors and scholarships. DREAM, or the Don Raymond Educational Athletic Memorial Inc., was named for Hahnville High athlete Don Raymond, who died in a traffic accident during his 11th grade. DREAM has awarded more than $50,000 in scholarships since forming in 1992.

An awards banquet is set Saturday at Mt. Airy Baptist Church, Boutte, at 7 p.m.