Grants aid play in St. Charles

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 9, 2009

By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

HAHNVILLE – Mississippi River levees in St. Charles Parish will boast extended recreational paths thanks to two recently awarded grants from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

The grants, totaling more than $1 million, will fund the construction of about four additional miles of bike and walking paths along the east and west banks of the river, said St. Charles spokeswoman Renee Allemand-Simpson.

On the east bank, Simpson said the path would extend from Apple Street in Norco to the Bonnet Carre Spillway’s east guide levee. As for the west bank, the path will continue from the Davis Pond Freshwater Diversion Project to the St. Charles – Jefferson Parish line in Ama, Simpson said.

Simpson said the South Central Planning and Development Commission assisted St. Charles Parish in applying for the grant, with state legislators Joel T. Chaisson II and Gary Smith helping secure the funding.

“With these two grants, the parish now has funding in place to complete the bike paths,” Grants Officer Holly Fonseca said in a release from the parish. “We will continue to seek grant funding for the remaining sections, from Elm Street to Killona on the west bank and from the Spillway through Montz on the east bank, with the hopes that it can be completed in the near future.”

Simpson said construction is close to resuming on the west bank path stretching from Elm Street to Davis Drive in Luling. She said work had been delayed because of instructions from the Corps of Engineers based on higher-than-normal river levels over the past month.

The parish recently opened bids to construct a one-mile extension of the path from Davis Drive to the Davis Pond Freshwater Diversion in Luling. Simpson said the apparent low-bidder was Boh Brothers Construction Co., with a bid of roughly $209,000. Simpson said this particular section is being funded in part with two Louisiana Recreational Trails grants totaling $141,749.

Back on the east bank, Simpson said Barriere Construction is set to construct a 1.34-mile path extension from Ormond Boulevard in Destrehan to East Harding Street in New Sarpy. She said 95 percent of the work is being funded by a Transportation Enhancement Program grant.

That project, which is estimated at about $267,000, is subject to parish council approval.

Simpson said grant funding has also been approved for construction from Harding Street to Apple Street in Norco.