NEW ORLEANS — The Senator Ted Hickey Bridge, more commonly known as the Seabrook Bridge, is closed for repairs again. As of now, there is no timeline for reopening, though the DOTD said there is a more complete rehab of the bridge being planned.
The bridge crosses the Industrial Canal right next to Lake Pontchartrain. Last spring, a vessel hit it and the DOTD closed it down to repair the damage.
“Whenever it’s closed it’s a little bit of a problem,” said Donald Walton, who lives nearby. He and everyone else who regularly take the bridge were forced to detour to the High Rise or the Danziger Bridge. “It affects me because I’ve got to drive farther, take more time, to go and get back home… we can’t get where we need to go.”
After a few months of emergency repairs, one lane in each direction of the bridge reopened. Then this past Wednesday the DOTD announced the entire bridge would once again close, after “a recent inspection revealed that the integrity of the support structure showed additional wear.”
The closure affects people beyond the lakefront. When the Seabrook Bridge is closed, it diverts commuters to the High Rise and the Danziger Bridge, which causes rush hour traffic backups. “The turning lane to get onto Downman Road is so long it blocks the other lanes of traffic going east,” said Dr. Kenneth Dubois, who runs a dental practice just off the eastern side of the Seabrook Bridge.
In the 40 years since his practice opened, he told WWL Louisiana he has seen closures get more and more frequent. Most recently, the lock that holds the drawbridge together was having problems, leading to off-and-on closures that ended in 2022.
“It’s a main artery into and out of town,” said Dubois, adding that the 55-year-old bridge deserves to be a priority for repairs.
A spokesperson for the DOTD told WWL Louisiana there is a complete rehabilitation of the bridge being planned. It is set to begin in 2029.
There is no timeline for the current repairs.
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