ACADIA PARISH — Construction has officially begun on Highway 1096, a roadway in Acadia Parish that has long been known locally for its deterioration.
KATC has been following the Parish's reconstruction effort since November; you can read about it here. March 17th marked the beginning of the final phase of the project.
Acadia Parish Police Jury President Beau Petitjean credited the newly created Office of Louisiana Highway Construction with the speed at which the project moved from concept to construction, just three months.
"Highway 1096 hits three major highways: Highway 90, Highway 98, and Highway 95, and [for] the people, the school board that drives the school buses, who carry our kids, the police units, and the ambulances, it's going to be safer. Safer for them to commute in a vehicle down these roads," Petitjean said.
The office's Executive Director, Archie Chaisson, said the agency is reimagining the way road rehabilitation projects are handled — taking projects that would traditionally take years to reach construction and pushing the timeline up, getting crews on site in as little as two months.
"These rural routes, which mean a lot more to our local delegation, our local police juries, and parish councils, are really what drives a lot of the economies around some of our major metropolitan cities." Chaisson started. "Refocusing on those routes, making sure that they're up to standard, making traffic and travel easier, has been our prime mission across the last 7 months since we've been in existence."
The Office of Louisiana Highway Construction was granted emergency procurement authority, which allows the agency to bypass the traditional 30-day public bid process, enabling projects to move from concept to construction much faster.
Governor Jeff Landry spoke to how that authority has helped streamline the process.
"We created the Office of Highway Construction and appointed Archie Chaisson, and then we tasked him with moving at the speed of life. Moving these projects at the speed that our everyday Louisiana citizens demand, which is the speed of their lives," Landry said.
The project is expected to be complete within 60 days. If you'd like to track the progress on this project, you can click here to get real-time updates directly from the Office of Louisiana Highway Construction.
