North Boulevard between Fifth Street and East Boulevard downtown will undergo a transformation beginning as soon as January, when construction gets underway on the next phase of the Downtown Greenway project.
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development recently awarded the contract for the .75-mile North Boulevard portion of the greenway to Rotolo Consultants of Slidell, which was the low bidder on the project at $1.46 million.
The Downtown Greenway is a two-mile biking and pedestrian corridor that links the Mississippi River at Florida Street via River Road to North Boulevard, then connects to East Boulevard and continues over to City Park. It will eventually connect with other paths constructed by BREC and the city-parish, stretching as far as Siegen Lane.
“This part of the project is very special,” says Davis Rhorer, executive director of the Downtown Development District, which is spearheading the project. “North Boulevard is one of the premier streets downtown.”
As new renderings show, the majestic Live Oak trees that line North Boulevard’s median will be the focal point of the greenway. They will be lit up at night and there will be seating areas with unique botanicals, as well as amenities like an exercise station and a bike station.
“North Boulevard will come alive,” Rhorer says.
Construction is expected to take eight to 10 months, Rhorer says. While it is underway, the next piece of the greenway—the East Boulevard section, which runs from North Boulevard to Expressway Park—will be bid out in the first quarter of 2016 with construction due to begin by midyear.
Federal Transportation Enhancement Funds that were jointly awarded several years ago to the DDD and city-parish will fund construction of the Downtown Greenway.
—Stephanie Riegel
