State highway officials say they plan to provide temporary access over a local bayou in eastern Iberville Parish after a project to construct a new bridge on Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway has run into a delay of an as-yet undetermined length.
The old bridge over Bayou Breaux at Martin Luther King, also known as La. 75, has been closed since December, severing an important link between the lower St. Gabriel area and the Carville community that has required la nearly 11-mile detour for months.
During the closure, only first responder vehicles had retained emergency access across the bayou through a gravel road built over culverts laid in the bayou.
Officials with the state Department of Transportation and Development said Friday they plan to pave that gravel road over the culverts and open it to the general public, though the temporary road won't be finished until late summer.
DOTD officials can't say yet how long it will take to finish the permanent bridge over Bayou Breaux.
DOTD officials said they had planned to have the permanent bridge finished this summer, but a bridge piling was cracked when it was being driven into the bed of the bayou.
DOTD officials and their contractors are currently redesigning the permanent bridge to decide where to locate new piles, which support the weight of the new bridge span.
Brandie Richardson Bordelon, DOTD spokeswoman, said officials expect to have a better idea about how long the permanent bridge will take to complete once the redesign is finished.
DOTD officials said workers are currently doing preliminary jobs to pave the temporary roadway over the bayou.
Currently drivers on La. 75 must use La. 74, La. 30 and La. 3115 to reach different sides of the bayou.