CROWLEY, La. (KLFY) – Progress is being made on a five and-a-half mile stretch of U.S. Highway 90 in Acadia Parish.

The DOTD is spending $3.8 million to overlay the road from Hutchinson Avenue in Crowley to Zaunbrecher Road in Rayne.

It’s a big relief for drivers and Acadia Parish residents.

“It was so bumpy and every time you go through here you get flat tires and all of that kind of stuff so they’re doing a wonderful job,” said Rita Harmon of Crowley.

The DOTD said there were ruts in the old pavement and some joints were starting to poke through the asphalt. Last winter’s freezing cold weather caused severe cracking.

“The asphalt was really starting to show distress,” said DOTD District Administrator Bill Oliver.

Crews are doing some drainage improvements along the road. The road itself will be reinforced. Workers will then lay down two layers of fresh asphalt.

“That’s an old concrete roadway under there that we tend to get the cracks coming through the asphalt so it’s to try and prolong the life of the pavement,” Oliver explained.

The DOTD said the shoulders will also be paved to improve the safety of the roadway.

Crews will also replace the traffic signals at Hutchinson and Eastern Avenues in Crowley. 

The new signals will be called actuated signals. They will have sensors under the roadway that can tell when there’s traffic and when there’s none.

“The control will be computerized so it will monitor the traffic and allow for traffic and switch signals in and out based on traffic,” Oliver said.

That means drivers won’t have to wait at the light for long periods of time when there’s no oncoming traffic.

The DOTD said the project should be finished later this year.