YOUNGSVILLE, La. (KLFY) – The city of Youngsville plans to build a $1.7 million roundabout at the intersection of Chemin Metairie Parkway and Detente Road.
The traffic has increased because of the Youngsville Sports Complex and new neighborhoods in the southern part of the city.
“It’s going to improve the safety of this intersection and it’s also going to accommodate the continued growth of our city,” said Youngsville Mayor Ken Ritter.
“It gets pretty congested when they have something here at the sports complex or Mardi Gras for example,” said James Jenkins of Lafayette who said he comes to the sports complex every day with his kids.
“It gets rough coming down here so yeah I think it would be a good deal.”
The intersection sits higher than the rest of the road so it can be hard for some drivers to see oncoming traffic from Chemin Metairie.
Mayor Ritter said the roundabout will improve visibility.
“As it is now some of the feedback that we’ve received is you have to get pretty close to the intersection in order to see visually past the bridge,” Ritter said.
Recently, the city of Youngsville took some steps to make the intersection safer, including putting in rumble strips and a blinking light at each stop sign.
The new roundabout is possible because sales tax revenue is up about 19 percent from last year.
The city is taking out a 15-year bond issue to pay for the roundabout and other road improvements.
Ritter said the city hopes to award the contract in the third quarter of this year. The roundabout should be under construction in November or December.