NEW ORLEANS — Like many New Orleans neighborhoods, streets and sidewalks are under construction near the Fair Grounds. The venue will host the Jazz and Heritage Festival beginning on Friday.
Contractors have been working to rebuild and repave the roadways for more than a year now. Mojo Marc Joseph lives near Crete and Ponce de Leon Streets.
“This has been going on for over a year, now,” Joseph said. “We’ve just been living with it. We’ll see if they get it done for Jazz Fest or not.” These streets and sidewalks are also used by thousands of festival goers, walking between Esplanade Avenue and the Fair Grounds.
Neighbors say they may have problems maneuvering around all the construction zones.
“I’ve already fallen in many holes in this last year because I walk my dogs all over then place,” Joseph said. “We’ve all been dealing with it. So, I’m sure Jazz Fest people will as well.”
“I think going to the festival, they’ll be fine,” neighbor Mary Mathern Burn said. “It’s coming back out they may not be. I think it is a problem at some point.” Neighbors tell us work on their roads and sidewalks has picked up in recent weeks. Contractors are now promising to have much of this completed and the construction zones moved out in time for Jazz Fest.
“We have a schedule to pour concrete tomorrow and Wednesday, too,” Luis Sierra from C&M Construction told WWL-TV.
“So, everything is going to be good for the neighbors and whoever is going to be around here. Everything is going to be ready for the Jazz Fest.”
According to a city spokesperson, no street work can take place in the neighborhood during jazz fest weekends. Contractors must also make sure barricades are in place on any remaining excavations and sidewalk areas that are not complete by Wednesday.
“The Grand Route (St. John) is not completely done,” Burn said. “A couple of the other streets are not completely done. But they seem to be trying.” “We’ll see,” Joseph said. “I tend to be more skeptical than others.”
Contractors are required to inspect all active sites every day during the no work period to make sure barricades remain in place and no safety hazards are created the previous day. Contractors are also expected to provide asphalt overlays on milled blocks starting tomorrow until Wednesday. They must also make sure all blocks are drivable.