Robley bridge construction dollars approved

Months ago Vermilion Parish and Lafayette officials decided to take action on reconstruction of the Robley Street bridge that joins the two parishes in the north. While both sides agreed that the project was a priority, one issue held up the progress: money.

The Lafayette City-Parish Council approved the construction project that will cost approximately $900,000, but were waiting on state appropriations for a portion of the money. They were recently awarded $500,000 toward the project.

The Vermilion Parish Police Jury will contribute $100,000 to pay for the approach from the Vermilion Parish side to the structure.

At the Tuesday night Lafayette City-Parish Council meeting, members expressed the opinion that Vermilion should have a more equal contribution for the project even though it is technically a Lafayette assigned structure.

The bridge that has been closed for the past six months was determined to be unsafe.

While design plans are complete, there is no specific date set for the start of construction.

Another bridge in the parish that will be repaired is on Mahogany Road.

When the Abbeville City Council determined that the bridge at Rodeo Road needed to be replaced, it donated the existing structure to the parish.

The parish will, in turn, use the bridge to replace the one on Mahogany Road.

At the Monday night regular Police Jury meeting, the jury approved the bid from L & R Construction to do the construction of the bridge for approximately $23,000. It has not been determined when that construction is to begin.

Two other bridges have received approval from the jury to proceed.

According to Eugene Sellers, Sr. or Sellers and Associates the designs are complete for two more bridges that have been deemed priority because of the use by school busses.

The jury will continue to work on the more than 40 bridges in the parish that have been deemed unsafe for school bus traffic.