By LEONARD GRAY – Managing Editor

HAHNVILLE – The St. Charles Parish Council voted Monday to approve a court settlement which will close forever a railroad crossing in the Old Luling section of that town.

The deal comes as part of an agreeement to open a new crossing over the Union Pacific Railroad at the planned 2,000-home Ashton Estates, located beteween Luling and the Hale Boggs Bridge.

Voting 6-3, the opposition was led by three Luling councilmen – Clayton “Snookie” Faucheux, Brian Fabre and Barry Minnich.

For years, the Ashton Estates development has been touted by planners and developers as the salvation of a fading river town, pumping jobs, tax revenue and improved personal income.

Robert Becker of J.B. Levert Land Co. and Cokie Rathborne of Rathborne Land Co. came together in a joint venture to develop the area of the old Ashton Plantation. However, pregress had been stymied by the railroad, opposed to opening any new crossings in the face of a national trend to close as many railroad crossings as possible.

The agreement calls for the closing of the Ellington Drive crossing, while upgrading the crossing at Gassen Street and construction of the Ashton crossing.

Opposition was based on traffic problems on surrounding streets which keep residents in this section of Luling from easy access to other sections.

The area is bounded by the railroad, River Road, Sugarhouse Road and Paul Maillard Road. The Ellington crossing gave residents safer access to other amenities in town, especially St. Charles Parish Hospital.

Sue Brownlow of Ellington pointed out that if for no other reason, the neighborhood is encircled by the annual Krewe of Lul carnival parade, and she warned of difficulty in getting an ambulance around the parade into that neighborhood with the crossing’s closure.

Donna Lombardo pointed out that many senior citizens living in the area avoid heavily-traveled Paul Maillard Road because of the traffic load now. Paul Donnaud echoed that thought regarding Sugarhouse Road.

Another difficulty pointed out was the lack of a left-turn lane off westbound River Road onto Paul Maillard, making turns hazardous.

Faucheux said the new turn lane and signal will begin installation in six months by the state highway department.

Brownlow, an employee of the U.S. Postal Service, allowed for the signing of a petition against closing the crossing at the Luling Post Office (a facility which moved from the neighborhood more than 20 years ago), plus going door-to-door. A total of 248 signatures were gathered, mostly from Luling, joined by others in Des Allemands and Hahnville.

Attorney Louis Authement told the 50 or so Luling residnts attending Monday’s council meeting, “Luling is dying.” He pointed to amenities no longer in the town, such as Winn-Dixie, playgrounds for youth and other facilities.”

“Luling is on life support right now, and you have your hand on the plug,” Authement said.

Supporting the move to close the crossing were a series of real estate professionals, who urged that the Ashton development would mean an upgrade in the standard of living for everyone.

Carole Schonberg, on the board of the Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans, pointed out the plans to build 80 new homes in Ashton each year during the next 20 years. The impact of that construction and new residents will be considerable, she continued, with $200 million over that period of time.

After the 20-year buildout of the new subdivision, ongoing economic impact of 2,000 new households would mean $50 million per year, Schonberg added.

In council discussions after the public hearing, Councilman Dickie Duhe asked why the highway department was being so generous in providing funds for the construction of the crossings.

Parish attorney Bobby Raymond said it was part of the agreement toward shutting down the Ellington crossing. Unless that crossing were closed, he added, nothing could progress.

As part of the agreement, the parish adminstration applied for a $250,000 grant for the crossing upgrade and construction, trickled down from federal funds. The railroad will install the signalization and no local funds would be spent on the project.

Councilman Barry Minnich asked why the railroad had not earlier come forward with the improved computer technology which would make the Ashton and Gassen crossings state of the art?

Debra Dufresne-Vial pointed out the Sugarland Parkway crossing near the St. Charles Parish School Board office had that technology installed.

Minnich voiced his opposition, feeling like he was being arm-twisted into the agreement. “I’m not going to be held hostage by the railroad until everything is exhausted.”

The settlement would end a pending expropriation suit the parish began last year for the Ashton crossing site. Raymond said the parish would quite likely win in court, but appeals by the railroad would delay the development by several more years.

Following the council vote, Parish President Albert Laque said if he were on the council, he would have voted in favor of closing the Ellington crossing. “I just think it’s necessary.”