L’Observateur / September 20, 2000

LAPLACE – A member of Coastal Bridge Co.’s work crew doing overlay workon Airline Highway in LaPlace was struck by a truck early Monday morning.

Henry Cox, 21, of Napoleonville, suffered serious injuries to his kidneys and head and is now in stable condition at River Parishes Hospital, according to hospital spokesman Sean Roussel.

Around 6 a.m. Monday Cox was putting out traffic cones on the west-boundlane of Airline Highway near Cambridge Drive when he was struck by a 1998 Ford truck driven by Arnold Sparks, 57, 129 Lynn Drive, Paradis.

The impact knocked Cox into the median of the road.

According to Capt. Mike Tregre of the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’sOffice, Sparks told deputies he did not see Cox in the road.

Deputies said Sparks was traveling west-bound at the posted speed limit of 45 mph. Tregre said the accident is still under investigation, and Sparks wasnot cited.

Cox is part of a work crew re-paving Airline Highway and widening the road under state and federal contract.

The work is expected to be finished in October, according to the state Department of Transportation and Development.

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