NEW ORLEANS — For the second day in a row, heavy fog mixed with smoke closed roads, bringing the morning commute to a standstill in New Orleans East.
Police shut down parts of I-10 and I-510 and Hwy-11 for about four hours.
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway General Manager Carlton Dufrechou applauded the city’s decision to stop traffic.
“The city closing, I-10 this morning was the right decision,” Dufrechou said. “They probably, not probably, they saved lives.”
This week, city Homeland Security Director Collin Arnold talked about the possibly of convoying drivers through the fog.
“We’re working with NOPD right now to try and discuss some other solutions,” Arnold said. “We’re looking at talking about convoys.”
The Causeway has used traffic restrictions, including convoys for decades.
“If the visibility starts dropping or we get a heavy rainstorm or something like that we may start posting things on the messages boards and then it will start ratcheting up to potentially putting some vehicles on the roadway some of our units to drive in front of the vehicles to set the speeds,” Dufrechou said. “If it gets really bad, we’ll do convoying.”
According to Dufrechou, the city has not reached out to the Causeway for assistance in putting together a convoy strategy for I-10. But he says he would be happy to help, if asked.
In the meantime, Dufrechou says each of us can make a difference in keeping the roads safe.
“When stuff like this hits the fan, we all need to slow down and say okay, what’s the most important. The most important thing is life. Not only our own, but everyone around us.
The Causeway prepares for fog season by pre-staging cones along the bridge from Oct.15 through Apr. 15.
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