NEW ORLEANS — On Thursday, the New Orleans City Council passed a motion declaring unfinished construction in Treme “an imminent threat.” City officials blame the project’s original contractor and plan to begin an emergency bidding process to find a new one.
“This been going on like this for four years,” said Retha Frank, who lives across the street. Early last year, she and her neighbors saw workers tear up the street completely.
Not long after, work stopped. At a City Council meeting Thursday, Director of Public Works Rick Hathaway told council members the department “needed a plan change signed because there was some unknown conditions where we had to tie into a 24-inch water line at Claiborne Avenue.”
He said the contractor, Mandeville-based Command Construction, refused to sign the plan change. After that, the City dropped them from the project.
Now, the two-block stretch of St. Peter Street is nearly impassable. Weeds carpet an entire block, and neighbors said a running water leak has turned the now-dirt road to mud. “We had company, and they had to get towed out,” said Frank.
Thursday, Councilmember Freddie King showed slides with pictures of the street. “I really want to know how did we get to this, to this point where a street, a city street, can look like this,” he said.
Council members passed a motion declaring the construction zones “an imminent threat to the safety, life, and property of the citizens of Treme.” It will allow the Department of Public Works to open a new bidding process to find a contractor to replace Command Construction
We wanted to do this way to get this situation cleaned up as quickly as possible,” said Deputy CAO of Infrastructure Joe Threat.
He and Hathaway told Council the bid package should be out within a few weeks and construction could be finished within six months.
Neighbors say it is a positive development, though years too late. “I’m hoping and praying they take care of it in no time because it’s an inconvenience for us,” said Frank.
Command Construction could not be reached for comment on Friday.
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