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LAPLACE — Phase IV of the Mississippi River Trail Project has begun, and the asphalt path along the Mississippi levee will soon be extended to the St. James Parish line for the public to enjoy.

This is a continuation of Phase III, which stopped the path at W. 10^th Street in Reserve in 2017. Parish President Natalie Robottom and staff recently celebrated the start of Phase IV with a groundbreaking ceremony.

Sheriff Mike Tregre, Meyer Engineers LTD. and contractor Magee Excavation & Development were also on hand for the groundbreaking.

The construction cost is $2,315,583.17, according to St. John Parish communications. Through the collaborative efforts of St. John administration, DOTD and the Regional Planning Commission, 80 percent of the project funding was secured through the Federal Highway Administration.

The final phase of the River Trail project was previously delayed due to elevated river stages that forced multiple spillway openings in 2019.

In other St. John Parish news, officials celebrated the completion of the Oxidation Pond Project in Reserve with a ribbon cutting. Former Utilities Director Blake Fogleman and project engineer Oscar Boudreaux with Environmental Engineering Services were instrumental to the project.

The oxidation pond will greatly reduce stress on the River Road Waste Water Treatment Plant, thus reducing overflows. It was constructed to allow for expansion of the project as greater capacity is needed.

Designed to treat wastewater in a more cost-effective manner using natural interaction of sunlight, bacteria and algae, the wastewater retention pond will treat some 3 million gallons of wastewater per day, primarily from the Reserve area.

The $9 million project was funded through the 2010 Bond Issue and an EPA grant, designed by Environmental Engineering Services Inc. and constructed by The Lemoine Company, LLC.

“Over the course of my Administration, we have made strategic efforts to utilize state and federal funding to improve aging infrastructure in our Parish while reducing the strain to the budget,” said Parish President Robottom. “We have worked hard to ensure that dollars received went to complete worthy projects that affect residents.”