Abbeville puts streetscape sidewalk project on hold

After several years of waiting, work finally began in January on the City of Abbeville’s downtown streetscape project.
That served as the “good thing” for those in the city who waited patiently for it to come to fruition. Now, after a few months of work, the wait will have to be a bit longer, at least for the finished product
“The city recently decided to bring a pause to the project,” said Councilman Brady Broussard Jr., whose district includes the area.
Uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic factored heavily into the decision.
“This health crisis pandemic has affected the state to such a degree that we thought it best to halt the contractor at this point until we are sure the State of Louisiana can timely reimburse the city for expenses covered in the grant,” Broussard said.
The beautification project, which features improved sidewalks, the addition of multiple handicap accessibility points and other improvements is being largely funded by a reimbursable $475,000 grant from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD). The city has made payments to Glenn Lege Construction, with the state reimbursing the city. The city made partial payments to Glenn Lege Construction during its meeting on April 7.
“We just don’t know what the future is going to bring as far as finances,” Mayor Mark Piazza said during that meeting. “This is a reimbursable grant. Our engineer, Mr. Gene Sellers, was a little cautious on how long it would take for the state to reimburse. For this particular program, we have to pay for it and then wait for the state. His recommendation is to pay what we owe now, then let them stop work.
“Once we feel that reimbursements could come in a timely manner, then we could get the project kicked back off.”
Crews with Glenn Lege have completed the portion of the project from the corner of Pere Megret and Main Street, to the corner of Pere Megret and Washington Street.
“It’s not easy to pause this streetscape project that the city waited nine years to start,” Broussard said. “Over an abundance of caution, we have asked the contractor to pause until we can get assurances that state funding will not be interrupted in these unprecedented times. When the city is confident that funding is timely for reimbursement, contractor Glen Lege construction will start work on handicap accessibility to Magdalen Square.”
Broussard added that the city has received assurances that LADOT would like to overlay the asphalt streets in this project once it is completed.
While patience has been a necessity throughout the process of this project, Broussard said he likes what he sees.
“It’s nice to see the high quality concrete work visible on that street now,” Broussard said. “The scope of work includes new handicap accessible surfacing, buried utility lines, landscaping, brick paver accents, new decorative lighting and landscaping.”