A portion of College Drive will be closed off this weekend due to a buckle in the road, city-parish transportation officials confirmed Tuesday, meaning drivers should be wary of backlogged traffic on the busy strip from Friday night until Sunday at 9 a.m.
The closure will take place in the 3000 block of College Drive, near the entrance to Chick-fil-A.
“There’s a big buckle in two of the northbound lanes,” says city-parish Director of Transportation and Drainage Fred Raiford, explaining the buckle was caused by two slabs pushing up due to the high heat index and regular rainfall. “It’s been like that for a month, but it’s gotten worse.”
The northbound lanes near the restaurant will be closed the entire weekend, with drivers heading north getting rerouted to the center turn lane.
City-parish workers will begin tearing out the asphalt and concrete pad underneath the buckle around 7 p.m. Friday night, Raiford says, with plans to pour the slab Saturday and top the road with new asphalt Sunday.
However, Chick-fil-A will remain open, and Raiford suggests driving through the shopping center’s other entrance to get there. He also recommends finding alternate routes of travel to avoid traffic.
“It’s also a liability issue,” Raiford says. “We’re trying to minimize the inconvenience by doing it on a weekend.”
