Greenwell Springs Diverted for New Bridge

CENTRAL — Last Friday, construction crews on the Central Thruway project diverted traffic onto the new detour bridge on Greenwell Springs Road over Beaver Bayou. This is part of the intersection widening project at Greenwell Springs Road and the Central Thruway. Crews will soon be dismantling the old bridge and replacing it with a new five-lane wide bridge.
The actual intersection work is scheduled for completion in September 2013. When the project is completed, there will be two through-lanes eastbound and westbound on Greenwell Springs along with double left-turn lanes to turn onto Central Thruway. There will also be a westbound right turn lane construction on Greenwell Springs Road to turn onto Central Thruway northbound.
The Central Thruway will have two through-lanes northbound and southbound, along with dedicated left turn lanes to turn onto Greenwell Springs, as well as dedicated right turn lanes. A traffic signal will control the intersection traffic.
The signal at Greenwell Springs and Sullivan roads will be removed shortly after the Central Thruway is opened, and traffic southbound on Sullivan will not be allowed to turn left onto Greenwell Springs. Traffic wishing to turn left onto Greenwell Springs will use the Central Thruway intersection.
City-Parish officials said last week that once the Central Thruway is open, Frenchtown Road will be closed between the Central Thruway and Chaumont Avenue for approximately 9 to 12 months for replacement of the Beaver Bayou bridge near Geo-Je’s subdivision. The roadway north of the bridge, as well as the new bridge, will be elevated approximately seven feet so that the roadway will passable during high water events.
Residents of Geo-Je’s will still be able to get in and out of their subdivision, but they will have to go south on Frenchtown Road. City-Parish officials have stated that they are anticipating using the gravel construction road south of Country Road as a detour road for residents in the area. This gravel road was used as a construction road when the Central Thruway was under construction. It now connects Frenchtown to the Central Thruway. City-Parish officials said some improvements to the gravel road will be necessary to handle the detour traffic.
David Barrow, Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Central, said that once the Central Thruway is open, traffic calming methods will be considered along Frenchtown between Greenwell Springs Road and the Central Thruway to deter cut-through traffic and speeding.