NEW ORLEANS – As part of the ongoing construction of the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with its partners at the St. Bernard Parish Government, the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, will shift Highway 46 north and southbound traffic in three phases to accommodate construction of a new floodgate. The lane shifts, on a section of the highway adjacent to Fire Station 10 near Verret, will begin on Wednesday, July 21, and remain in effect until March 2011. Southbound access to Fire Station Road will be open to traffic during all phases.
The project consists of constructing two new adjacent vehicular floodgates across Highway 46—one across the southbound lanes and the other across the northbound lanes—to elevation 30 feet. Lane shifts (illustration can be viewed at www.mvn.usace.army.mil/pao/mapofhighway46laneshifts.pdf ) are necessary to ensure public safety during construction and to meet the Corps’ operational goal of providing 100-year risk reduction for the 2011 hurricane season. Construction on the floodgates will be complete in March 2011.
Throughout Phase 1, north and southbound traffic will be limited to using the outside lanes while crews construct temporary crossovers just north and south of the future floodgates. Phase 1 lane shifts will begin July 21 and remain in effect until late August 2010.
During Phase 2, southbound traffic north of the floodgates will cross over to the single inside lane of the northbound side of Highway 46. As a result, northbound traffic will be limited to using the single outside lane of the northbound side. Southbound traffic will cross back over to the southbound lanes just south of the future floodgates. Phase 2 lane shifts will begin in August 2010 and remain in effect until January 2011.
Phase 3 will require northbound traffic south of the floodgates to cross over to use the single inside southbound lane. As a result, southbound traffic will be limited to using the single outside southbound lane. Northbound traffic will cross back over to the northbound lanes just north of the floodgates. Phase 3 lane shifts will begin in January 2011 and remain in effect until March 2011.
Questions and / or concerns related to road closures and construction impacts can be addressed on the Corps’
Construction Impacts Hotline: 877-427-0345.
Release no. 10-047