NEW ORLEANS, LA (March 10, 2008) – Today, Mayor C. Ray Nagin, the City of New Orleans’ Department of Public Works, along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the completion of FEMA eligible street repairs. The department also announced the start of a major citywide street repair project also approved by FEMA. The event took place on Wildair Drive between Warrington Drive and Filmore Street at 2:30 p.m.
"We continue to reach milestones in our recovery, and this event represents one step toward completing the task of rehabilitating our streets that were heavily damaged due to the devastation and flooding," Mayor Nagin said. "We've undertaken numerous smaller road projects through our partnership with the state and federal government. This department is working miracles to make sure our residents get better streets."
In 2007, the Department of Public Works repaired 347 sites with an approximate cost of $937,000. Though scattered throughout the city, repair work was focused primarily in Algiers, the Lower Ninth Ward, Lakeview, and Gentilly. The following nine sites were particularly critical since the City and FEMA used these sites as a model in predicting the scope of work required during the evaluation process:
* 18th Street
* 16th Street
* Spencer Street
* North Windsor at Haik
* Warrington Drive
* 38th Street between Avenue A and B
* Wildair between Warrington and Filmore
* Wickfield between Warrington and Fillmore
* Windsor between Wildair and Wilton Drive
Last month the city released an invitation to bid as part of the public bid process for the remaining sites that qualify for reimbursement through the federal public assistance program. Bids are due on Tuesday, March 11.
"We've identified more than 6,000 blocks or 17,000 individual sites that will undergo repairs," said Robert Mendoza, Director of Public Works. "Repairs range in size from less than two square yards to over 1,400 square yards. However, the average size repair is between 20 and 30 square yards per site."
The department will assign construction managers to each project along with one or more inspectors. The City's Project Management Team, MWH, will assist the department with the overall administration of each project.
"Repairing New Orleans' roads is an important project that will bring much relief to everyone who drives here in the city," said Jim Stark, Acting Associate Deputy Administrator for FEMA's Gulf Coast Recovery Office. "By assessing damages as a FEMA, state and city team, we were able to walk nearly 13,000 blocks of New Orleans and develop a common approach to assess damages that worked for all three entities. I'm happy to say that as of today, FEMA has obligated more than $26 million for road projects in New Orleans."
Many of the streets where I reside (not far from Wildair & Filmore where I lived 35 years ago) are more "gone" than "street." These need to be "replaced" not "repaired." As I've mentioned before the street where Marlin Gusman lives would be a good "standard" to bring the surrounding streets up to as it seems to be smoother than the Hubble telescope's optical lens; no doubt it was in this condition before the storm as well. Years ago when I lived in Jefferson when blacktop was laid on the street although no one else's driveway was done this way it seemed that the two judges living on the street would get a nice smooth extension from the street to their driveway. That's okay; my "betters" deserve this treatment. I'll gladly pay taxes so they can enjoy any and all perks they think they deserve. No problem. My pleasure. Really. Written by kpf
on 3/11/2008
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Well, dears, what was the deciding factor in which streets were to be repaired. Many streets were in a state of disrepair before Katrina and little was done about them. It took a storm to get some action or was is simply that pot hole filler truck that was used. Written by RhettsWife
on 3/10/2008
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