LAFAYETTE, La. — City officials broke ground Monday on the $1.9 million Bertrand Drive Revitalization project, launching an effort designed to enhance traffic flow, expand pedestrian and bike access, and bolster longtime local businesses along the busy corridor.
“When we spend this kind of money, we want it to be beneficial for everybody we're touching,” said Lafayette Mayor-President Monique Blanco Boulet.
The Bertrand Drive project, which has been budgeted for by the city over the last two years, will focus on improvements to the thoroughfare connecting Cajun Field and Moncus Park. Business owners like the one at Dean O’s Pizza, which has served customers on Bertrand for more than 55 years, see the upgrades as a key to drawing more visitors from nearby attractions.
“We would love for people to walk, pedestrians and bicyclists, because we have Moncus Park on one side and Cajun Field on the other side – so it's the perfect route,” said Dean O's owner Tim Metcalf, “Anything that happens at Cajun Field, Cajundome, the Cajun Complex, athletic complex, it impacts us – Moncus Park impacts us – so if it's easier for them to get here, that would really help.”
Patacon, a Latin cuisine restaurant with 11 years on Bertrand, also welcomes the changes. “It really helps you take in your city, take in your community a little bit more. It makes us feel a lot more united and it makes people enjoy their local restaurants more like ours,” said manager Daniel Lugo.
Business leaders and city officials hope the project will not only support local commerce, but also foster a stronger sense of community and place. “It makes it feel like people can experience their city more as opposed to just being point A to point B, and then that's it – everything in between becomes a blur,” said Lugo.
The first phase of the project, which involves installing communication lines underground, is expected to take about six months.
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