LAFAYETTE, La. — LCG officials have postponed work on one of two bridges in the same neighborhood.
The delayed bridge work - which would have shut down the bridge on Lajaunie Road - will be postponed until January, Lafayette Consolidated Government told us late Tuesday.
Before that announcement, we talked to residents in the neighborhood that would be cut off from usual routes and usual detours by that project and another project that already has begun to repair a bridge on Gloria Switch Road.
Neighbors who live near the bridges and use it daily told us they were confused by proposed detours, and worried that they would be shut out from the city and that needed emergency services might be delayed.
KATC stopped by the bridge and spent the day speaking with community members and met Jude Robin. He's been living near the bridge for 15 years and he shares his thoughts on the potential closure.
“We need another bridge, we need work done on this road but everything was thrown at us all at one time," he says. "This bridge being closed and you go down Gloria Switch. I don’t think they thought it over too well.”
For Robin, this could also affect how much he can see his sister who lives around the corner.
“I have a sister who lives right there on St. Claire road and it takes me about 5 minutes to get there and now to go and check on her, it's going to take at least about half and hour to get there. Because I need to get across the bridge to get to her place, so that I'm kind of disappointed in.”
KATC spoke with Alison Lognion, Project Coordinator LCG Public Works who says they heard the concerns from residents and that was the main reason they decided to delay the closure, with construction starting instead in January 2025.
