LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – It’s a road that for years has brought pain to the backs and banks of residents in and around the Carencro area.
Yet again, they’re hoping to get answers from the parish about when will something be done.
For years, Joli Road made for an uncomfortable ride for drivers. Well now it’s 2020, and residents say nothing has changed for the better.
“The road is so bad you can’t drive more than five miles an hour down here.”
Hashem Said owns the Depot II, one of the only convenience stores for people living on Joli Road and in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Said’s problem is those people are no longer shopping at his store.
“It’s ruining my business. I’m losing customers every day because of the road” Hashem told us.
It’s customers like Randy Thomas who drive back and forth between Carencro and Cankton, who have been using an alternate route, hoping to save money on future car repairs.
Thomas said, “I quit coming down this road. I usually go around or go to another store because I can’t take the chance of tearing up my vehicle.”
With Joli Road being owned by Lafayette parish, many are wondering when parish officials will do something to fix it.
Chad Nepveaux, LCG Interim Director of Public Works said, “Fortunately, Joli Road is one of seven roads that’s part of an MPO project where we got state funding to do road repairs in the rural areas.”
If you’ve driven down Joli, you’ve noticed the patches from beginning to end. Well, it’s now beyond patching repair; and its poor condition landed it on the project list.
“Joli Road it’s of the worst ranking. It had a ranking of one which means it needed to be reconstructed. It had the riding surfaces failed and the base. Once the base fails it’s got to be rebuilt”, Nepveaux said.
To prevent roads from getting to this level of deterioration, LCG is implementing a new process to prolong the life of roads.
“We are trying new things in terms of preservation and trying to be more proactive in trying to keep those roads that are in decent shape, extend the life of those roads to give us the opportunity to work with the budget we have and repair the roads that really need to be repaired.”
Nepveaux says it’ll be about 2 months before they cross all the red tape and get the paperwork signed by the bid winning contractor.
Once that’s done, the contractor will have five months to complete not only Joli Road, but 6 other roads (Jenkins Road, Beau Bassin Road, Benoit Road, Gourmet Road, Prejean Road, Robley Drive) included in the nearly 3 million dollar project.
If there’s an ongoing issue in your neighborhood or community or there’s a story you’d like me to investigate, send me an email at DialDalfred@klfy.com.
