Construction starts on new stretch of avenue
By
KEVIN BLANCHARD
Acadiana bureau
Published: Aug 11, 2006
LAFAYETTE — Construction kicked off Thursday on the next phase of Louisiana Avenue, which passes through an area officials say is ripe for new development.
Right now, Louisiana Avenue ends at East Pont des Mouton Road, about a half-mile north of Interstate 10.
The new $10 million project would extend Louisiana Avenue north to Maryview Farm Road.
City-Parish Councilman Dale Bourgeois, who represents the area, said residents are excited about the new potential route to I-10, as well as the likely commercial development near the intersection of I-10 and Louisiana Avenue, which would provide more shopping alternatives in north Lafayette.
Already, a developer is soon to break ground on a large Target-anchored shopping center just south of the intersection of I-10 and Louisiana Avenue.
Other developers have expressed interest in other areas nearby, Bourgeois said.
Once the new shopping center opens — developers are shooting for sometime next year — it could trigger a “snowball” effect of new business, Bourgeois said.
Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel said the Louisiana Avenue project is an example of what he means when saying Lafayette needs to build infrastructure that “gets ahead of the curve.”
Instead of building a road that merely reduces traffic congestion, Durel said, projects like Louisiana Avenue both prepare for future traffic demand and spur economic development. Durel has proposed asking voters to approve a new citywide 1-cent sales tax for new roads and drainage.
The most important thing that additional funding could be doing is “preparing us for the future,” Durel said.
Plans are on the books to further extend Louisiana Avenue from Maryview Farm Road to Gloria Switch Road, Associate Public Works Director Pat Logan said.
Under a $215 million bond program approved by voters in July, the earliest that new section of Louisiana Avenue could be bid out is 2009, Logan said.
With approval of a new sales tax, funding for the next phase of Louisiana Avenue would come sooner: in 2007, Logan said.
“It’s ready to go,” Logan said.
Story originally published in The Advocate