As work continues on the $30.9 million Perkins Road widening project, traffic is being rerouted to widen the bridge near Louisiana Nursery until December or early next year, says Tacie Rabalais, engineer with the state Department of Transportation and Development. The existing bridge will be closed while work continues on the inside lanes. Traffic won’t be interrupted, but it could slow down as it flows around the bridge on completed outer lanes.
Jeff Wright, spokesman for JTS Interests, which developed the Perkins Rowe urban village, says any negative effect from the change will be more than offset by work completed between Bluebonnet Boulevard and Siegen Lane, which has substantially eased traffic jams. “We’re good,” Wright says. “The traffic has improved a lot.”
Started in January 2007, James Construction started widening three miles of the road from Essen to Siegen lanes. The project has a targeted completion date of May 2010. Averaging 27,000 vehicles a day, the road is one of the most heavily trafficked in the Baton Rouge area.—Anna Thibodeaux
