UPDATE: After Partial Collapse, St. Martin Parish Road Closure Extended Until OCTOBER

BREAUX BRIDGE, La. (KPEL News) - It's been a pain for St. Martin Parish drivers all summer and still no definitive date on when LA 328 (Anse Broussard Highway) will reopen north of Breaux Bridge. We reached out to officials with DOTD several weeks ago for an update but received no response.

Deidra Druilhet, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development public information officer, did speak to KLFY this week about the project and she said the project should have only taken a few weeks to complete and DOTD understands the inconvenience that the ongoing construction causes.

“We do understand the inconvenience that this is having on the traveling public in that area. So, we do apologize for that,” Druihet said.

As we previously reported, The closure was only supposed to take about a to wrap up, but after part of the roadway collapsed, the project was extended.

In the KLFY report, Druilhet asked for the public’s patience as the setback caused the project’s completion to take way longer than expected. The road is expected to reopen around late October, with the overall project expected to be complete in early 2025.

Previous Story:

BREAUX BRIDGE, La. (KPEL News) - Many residents of the northern parts of St. Martin Parish rejoiced when they heard the news that Anse Broussard Highway (Louisiana Highway 328) would finally be repaired. For decades the road deteriorated and became a patchwork of potholes filled in with heaps of asphalt, turning the road into something reminiscent of the cobblestone roads that were travelled by horse-drawn buggies and Model T Fords.

THE PROJECT BEGAN IN MARCH 2024

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) first announced the beginning of the work back in March of 2024. Work began March 25, 2024 on construction of the $12.06 million dollar project on La. 328 from 0.20 miles north of I-10 to La. 347 in St. Martin Parish.

According to DOTD, the project consists of milling asphaltic concrete, in-place base rehab, asphalt overlay, drainage improvements, and related work. With work taking place Mondays through Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., weather permitting.

Credit: Staff

A 12-foot lane restriction was put in place throughout the project and there have been intermittent lane closures required to perform the work.

To be clear, there was also a planned full road closure event announced during the project, which DOTD said was necessary to install drainage structures across the roadway.

District 46 State Representative Chad Boyer, who represents the area the project is located, updated his constituents via social media on the closure when it was announced by DOTD in June. The road was initially going to close Monday, June 24, at 6:00 a.m. until Monday, July 15, at 6:00 a.m. Three days later, DOTD sent another release changing the dates of the closure to Monday, July 8, at 6:00 a.m. until Monday, August 5, at 6:00 a.m., weather permitting.

Credit: Staff

Well, today is Monday, August 5 and the road is, unfortunately, not open. We reached out to DOTD spokesperson Deidra Druilhet about when the road would open, and she said via email, "regarding the project, additional work has to be done, so the closure has been extended until September 2024."

Road Now Closed Until September

We also reached out to Representative Boyer who said that the work was delayed after the contractor failed to ensure that the walls of the opening dug out for new box culverts were secure. The increased level of rain that has fallen in the last few months caused the sides of the opening to wash out, resulting in a large portion of the newly constructed roadway to collapse.

Boyer added that he recently spoke to officials working on the project and he said the box culverts are in and work is progressing on filling in the dirt needed to reconstruct the roadway. He also said that if the weather holds out, the road could possibly be opened to traffic in early September.

For now, residents and travelers will have to continue using detour routes until the road reopens.

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