Crews will begin building this year a 6-foot-wide sidewalk connecting a levee access project under development at Florida Boulevard and River Road to the nearby state buildings downtown, the Downtown Development District announced at this morning’s monthly meeting.
The sidewalk, as well as trees and tree gratings alongside it, will be paid for with a $156,000 grant from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. The project is among a number of various improvement efforts set to take shape downtown this year, aided by an additional $620,000 in city-parish funding. With federal grant funding, DDD has already invested $1.2 million to improve riverfront access at Florida and River Road.
“River Road wasn’t a pleasant street. We’re making it much more human,” DDD Executive Director Davis Rhorer said at this morning’s meeting.
Other downtown projects to benefit from city-parish funding this year include upgrades to the under-used amphitheater at the Riverfront Plaza near the Louisiana Art & Science Museum. It will receive $250,000 for reconstructed seating, additional lighting and accessibility improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Another $250,000 will go toward improving lighting beneath Interstate 110 and restriping to add 540 parking spaces. About $70,000 will be spent to refurbish seating and lighting on the levee promenade, while additional signage to help visitors navigate downtown is expected to cost $50,000.
“You would be amazed, some people don’t know where the Mississippi is—you have a 50-foot levee there. They’re wowed when they get to the top,” Rhorer said of the need for the new signage.
Additionally, design is underway for another project that will increase the number of trees and other foliage on Florida Boulevard and Lafayette Street. Rhorer said that project is estimated to cost $300,000, which is also expected to be funded by the city-parish. —Kelly Connelly
