he patchwork plan to convert U.S. Route 90 between Lafayette and Morgan City into Interstate 49 South got another stitch Friday.
A contract to build an overpass/interchange at U.S. 90 and La. 85 was signed Friday by William Ankner, state Department of Transportation and Development secretary, and prime contractor Gilchrist Construction.
The $24.5 million cost of the interchange, funded entirely with federal stimulus money, is about $7.5 million less than the estimate. The design-build process also should reduce construction time by about two years, Ankner said.
Under the design-build process, a construction and engineering team designs and builds the project following state guidelines. Usually, the state designs the project then bids construction. Design-build is supposed to reduce construction costs on average 3 percent and reduce construction time by 14 percent.
Working with Gilchrist Construction on the project are ABMB Engineers, AECOM USA, Geo Engineers an APEX Engineering.
The federal stimulus bill, the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, came with a specific timeline, and with support from Gov. Bobby Jindal and the state Legislature, DOTD was able to advance two projects to construction, Ankner said. That allowed the state to reallocate money for other projects, he said.
The next U.S. 90 interchange that will be upgraded to interstate standards is La. 318, in the Four Corners area of west St. Mary Parish, Bill Fontenot, district 3 engineer/administrator with DOTD, said.
It should be under construction in a few years.
When the La. 85 and La. 183 overpasses are built, they will complete a 40-mile stretch of limited- access interstate standard highway from Calumet in St. Mary Parish through Iberia Parish, Fontenot said.
Among the things determining which intersections are upgraded first are the availability of rights of way, completion of environmental impact studies and cost, Fontenot said.
An improved interchange at Kaliste Saloom Road at U.S. 90 in Lafayette, for instance, would cost about $60 million, he said. No money has been identified for that project.
The new intersection of U.S. 90 at Ambassador Caffery Parkway at the Zoo of Acadiana is scheduled to be opened in March. It's part of a project that extends Ambassador Caffery Parkway from its current terminus at Verot School Road to U.S. 90.
Also in March, work is expected to begin on a DOTD project to widen U.S. 90 to three lanes from Pinhook Road in Lafayette to the La. 182 overpass between Albertson Parkway and Ambassador Caffery Parkway.
By Claire Taylor
Source: The Advertiser