U.S. 84 in Concordia to see work

By Vershal Hogan (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Saturday, May 31, 2008

VIDALIA — Miss-Lou residents should expect to see construction along U.S. 84 soon.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has recently took bids for contractors to add more turning lanes between Vidalia and Ferriday soon, said Chris Roussell, a DOTD construction and maintenance supervisor.

The construction should begin within a couple of months, Roussell said.

The department also has plans to add a right-turning lane for traffic making the first right turn off of U.S. 84 after entering Vidalia from the Natchez-Vidalia bridge, Roussell said.

Construction on the new U.S. 84 bridge across the Black River at Jonesville is well under way, Roussell said.

All of the decks on the new bridge should be completed by September, with traffic flow allowed across the bridge by December, he said.

At that time, the bridge will be connected to the five-lanes project through Jonesville, which will eventually narrow to three lanes, and then back to two as it exits the town, Roussell said.

The bridge project will be completely finished by April 2009, he said.

The moveable bridge in Jonesville will be demolished later this year.

All of the areas involved in the effort to four-lane U.S. 84 from Jena to Ferriday are in some stage of planning, but none of the plans are in their final form and funding has not been allocated for the project yet, Roussell said.

When the project is completed, the existing roadway will become the westbound lane, and the eastbound lane will be located somewhere to the south of the existing roadway, Roussell said.

The state has allocated $300,000 to finalizing the plans for that project, Roussell said. Of the five states U.S. 84 passes through, Louisiana has the smallest percentage of the highway four-laned.