SLIDELL, La. — With a curve in the middle and inches to spare on either side, the Highway 11 railroad overpass has long made drivers on the Northshore nervous. Now, we know it could be replaced within the next few years, though the start date may be moved up or back depending on funding.
The DOTD has spent more than a decade working on a project that would build a new bridge alongside the current one, then, once it is complete, demolish the current one.
The plan is to add an eight-foot shoulder on either side of the bridge.
There has been renewed interest in the project after a head-on crash killed two people and left one in critical condition Friday night. Saturday, WWL Louisiana spoke with Slidell Police CAO Daniel Seuzeneau, who called the bridge “very unforgiving,” and said “there is very little margin for error” for drivers due to the complete lack of shoulder on either side.
Neighbors echoed the feeling.
Halva Morris says he is accustomed to driving over the bridge after living nearby for more than 20 years, but that other people are not always as careful. “They’re so close, and the speed they’re going, that’s the problem,” he said, adding that people in his neighborhood, which is right next to the bridge, witness accidents frequently.
The bridge was built in 1937, a time when road safety needs were very different. “There were probably less than 20 million cars on the road and cars didn't really go faster than 50 miles an hour,” said Daniel Gitlin, a Public Information Officer for the Louisiana DOTD. He added that the age of the bridge was a major factor in the DOTD’s decision to replace it.
As for why it took so long, Gitlin said a major reason has been funding. “There’s more work to be done than there’s money that we have,” he said. The DOTD estimates it will cost about $21 million to replace the bridge.
Bridges are also much more complex than roads and, in Louisiana, there are many in need of repair at any given time. “We all think of an issue in our neighborhood in our parish as being, sort of, the most important. But we're all Louisianians and people across the state have very similar issues,” said Gitlin.
The project is expected to begin sometime between 2025 and 2027, but Gitlin said the date could be pushed up or back depending on funding. He added it could take as little as a year and a half to complete.
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