DOTD postpones service road work

It’s not only Crowley residents who are growing frustrated with the amount of time being taken to make significant progress on Crowley’s service road.
City Engineer Tim Mader, already upset with the many weather delays that have pushed back the project, recently received a letter from Seth Woods, project engineer, Department of Transportation and Development, explaining why there has been “so little work completed on the access road, even though there have been many good weather days.”
The letter explains that the state has determined that McDonald, the main contractor which has several projects going on in the state, “at the request of the DOTD, is completing an emergency repair project on La. 8 that, at this time, has the (Crowley service road project) closed.
“DOTD finds opening La. 8 a high priority under the circumstances of this case. Contract time will be suspended for a short duration on (the Crowley project) until McDonald can return to I-10 access with full forces. In the meantime the subcontractor will take advantage of the dry conditions and begin laying and backfilling cross drains in preparation of McDonalds return.
“I do not anticipate this delay to cause any major effects on the completion date of the project,” Woods said. “We are now entering the dry season. McDonald should be able to construct this project without weather delays when they return.”
Mader wanted to emphasize that this is out of the control of any city officials and that they when the state officials determine that one project is of higher priority than another that there is really nothing that can be done by city leaders.
Mader also stated DOTD’s District 3 is obligated to follow the instructions of the state office and that any delays are not the fault of the people in their local office.
“What particularly frustrates me are citizens in high positions who seem to think that this project will never be completed due to lack of funding,” added Mader. “I assure you that this isn’t the case.”
Several people have taken to social media to complain about the project and bemoan the fact that they haven’t seen any work being done despite the weather being cooperative.
Mader said he hopes that any misconceptions will be cleared up by the release of the letter.