BROUSSARD, La. (KLFY) – Mike’s Marine has been on Main Street, LA 182, in Broussard for 13 years.
General Manager Scott Babin said they’ve survived the ups and downs of Acadiana’s economy.
Then last August, the DOTD began working on Main Street as part of the $57 million Albertson Parkway interchange project.
“As fast as it started it stopped,” Babin said.
Babin said crews tore up the road then stopped working for seven months. He said they resumed work then stopped for three more months.
“It was a ghost town,” Babin said. “It was people, it was employees coming to work over here. Our sales, our showroom, everything had come to a halt.”
“The contractors moved out and moved to other projects and then there were some issues getting them back in,” explained DOTD District Administrator Bill Oliver.
Oliver said those issues included flooding on the Mississippi River that delayed asphalt work and getting all of the subcontractors on the same page.
He said the contractor is behind schedule on the interchange project.
And the section of Main Street between Albertson Parkway and St. Etienne Road took a backseat to the bridge and the main line work.
“So he’s concentrating on what’s best for him and it’s not always what’s best for the local business owners unfortunately,” Oliver said.
Babin said his section of Main Street was just finished at the end of June. Before that, he said it was one way in and one way out. He said they lost a lot of business during that eleven month period.
Other businesses on the road said they lost money, too.
“We’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars lost in revenue per business, out here on this road for eleven months,” Babin said.
Babin is happy the road is now open. But he says once the project is finished, customers will still have a hard time getting to him.
“They are going to put a raised median that’s going to cut off 182 by Albertson Parkway,” he said.
Traffic from St. Nazaire Road will be able to go under Highway 90 but won’t be able to turn left on Main Street.
Oliver said allowing left turns would back up traffic. Instead, he said a new frontage road with a traffic signal will give people access to Main Street.
“It will flow much smoother and we believe will provide better access in the long run,” Oliver said.
The DOTD said the contractor will be fined once the project is completed later this year.
We don’t know how much because they’ll have to subtract bad weather days and lost work days beyond the contractor’s control.