NEW ORLEANS –The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, will detour west bound travel lanes on Highway 90 beginning on Monday, Feb. 6 2012. The detour is necessary to accommodate ongoing construction of a bridge crossing over the floodwall. East bound travel lanes will be detoured within one week of the west bound transition.
As part of the detour, the speed limit will be reduced from 55 to 45 miles per hour in that area. Travelers are reminded to be aware of construction activity and workers, as well as to comply with all traffic signs and reduced speed limits. The west and east bound detours will be in place until construction of this project is complete in October 2012.
The Western Tie-In (WTI), part of the West Bank & Vicinity Project, consists of approximately four and half miles of levees and floodwalls along the Davis Pond Freshwater Diversion Canal and Outer Cataouatche Canal, as well as a navigable closure structure across Bayou Verret, an elevated bridge crossing at Hwy 90, two railroad gates and a second highway crossing that ties into the Mississippi River Levee. The structural features reduce the risk associated with a storm surge event that has a one percent chance of occurring in any given year. The total construction value of the WTI project is an estimated $140 million.
As construction of the Greater New Orleans Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System continues, residents and commuters are urged to use caution near active construction sites. If at any time there are questions about construction of the system, call the Corps’ toll free Construction Hotline at 877-427-0345. For more information on the HSDRRS is available at:
www.usace.army.mil.
Release no. 12-075