By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish residents who use Belle Terre Boulevard to get to and from Interstate 10 will soon have a brighter road to travel at night.

Parish administrators will seek authorization from the parish council Tuesday to sign off on a maintenance agreement with the state for installation of a lighting system at the heavily traveled interchange. Under the agreement, the state will install the lights, but the parish will be responsible for operation and maintenance of the system.

The parish will also be responsible for 10 percent of the total cost of design, construction and installation of the project. According to agreement documents from the state Department of Transportation and Development, construction costs are currently estimated to be $743,500. This would leave the parish responsible for about $74,350.

Prior to construction and installation, the parish must submit an operational plan that dictates management, financing and inspection schedules for the lighting system. The parish will also assume all legal liability, maintenance and energy costs of the lighting.

District 7 Councilman Cheryl Millet, who represents the area where the lights would go up, has fought for years to get better lighting on that stretch of roadway. She said the two-lane roadway can be very dangerous at night.

“It is very dark getting off and getting on the interstate back there,” Millet said. “It is a safety concern that is long overdue for being addressed, and I’m excited to see the lights finally go up.”

Millet said the system has not yet been designed, but she said the lights would be placed on both sides of the interstate on ramps and off ramps at Belle Terre. She said construction is set to begin by May of this year.

Also on the agenda, the council is slated to vote on a resolution in support of a $99,990 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to construct a farmers market in Wallace on the west bank of the parish. The grant would pay for design and construction of a multi-stall building where parish vendors could sell produce and other goods. The parish had been waiting on land use approval from the federal government to use land near the Veterans Memorial Bridge for the market.

The council will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Percy Hebert Building, 1801 W. Airline Highway in LaPlace.

The meeting will follow a council Finance Committee meeting, which begins at 5:45 p.m.