ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Residents of Homewood Place and surrounding areas of Reserve may finally get some relief from severe street flooding problems that have plagued neighborhoods in that area for decades.

The St. John the Baptist Parish Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to allow the parish to seek bids to increase pumping capacity and redirect drainage out of the area.

The project, which was designed and engineered early last year by Shread-Kuyrkendall and Associates, involves adding a second 42-inch pump on the Reserve Relief Canal in an effort to double the drainage capacity in the area. Both pumps will also be moved further north along the canal to prevent water from backing up in drainage basins.

St. John Capital Projects Administrator Mike Carmouche said both pumps will also be converted from electric to diesel to eliminate the need for a generator.

The plan also involves work to redirect water flow to prevent recirculation of water back into neighborhoods. Carmouche said the parish will widen ditches along Airline Highway in Reserve and also double the size of the drainage basin. There also plans to install a small floodgate on the Trosclair Canal in Reserve at Airline Highway to prevent drainage and tidewater from backing up into the Homewood neighborhood.

“Once the project is complete, it is expected to help drainage problems along Homewood Place, Central Avenue and River Road,” Carmouche said. “It’s known as the Homewood project because Homewood is the lowest point in the area. Everything flows into Homewood, and that is where the most severe flooding occurs.”

The parish developed the project last year following the most recent flooding of the Homewood area.

In December 2009, several inches of rain rendered Central Avenue impassible and flooded dozens of homes in the Homewood Place area.

The estimated cost of the project is $1.3 million, which would come out of the parish’s $29.5 million bond issue awarded in 2009. Bids are expected by March 22. Carmouche said once the project is awarded, it could take as long as 45 days to complete.