By LEONARD GRAY

HAHNVILLE – A wish-list of projects got St. Charles Parish Council approval this week, seeking state aid. The resolution stated the items are a priority for the parish.

The list is as follows:

• Extend the entrance ramp for eastbound U.S. Highway 90 entering Interstate 310 in Boutte. This intersection is one of the parish’s busiest, carrying thousands of vehicles daily. Eventually, plans are to complete the overpass and link it with Interstate 49, Lafayette to New Orleans.

• Widen Almedia Road (La. Highway 50). This is a very narrow, substandard road, carrying a high volume of traffic, but having deep, open ditches on each side, creating a hazardous situation. Plans include sub-surfacing that drainage structure.

• Construction of a new east-west road on the East Bank of St. Charles Parish. This project would help alleviate the increased volume of traffic generated by the opening of Interstate 310 and the residential development of the 1980s.

• Raise the access ramps from Interstate 310 to westbound Airline Drive and from eastbound Airline Drive to I-310. These ramps flood frequently, blocking access to an evacuation route.

• Relocation of La. Highway 3060 from Barton Avenue, Luling. Barton Avenue, which has two churches and no businesses along its residential length connecting River Road to U.S. Highway 90, has endured heavy highway traffic for more than 40 years. Plans are to build a new state highway in the Davis Pond area, to connect with the Willowdale Boulevard intersection, and redesignate Barton Avenue as a local road with restrictions against heavy truck traffic.

• Straighten curve at La. Highway 628 and River Road, Montz. There is no visibility around the curve, which has contributed to many traffic accidents.

• Reslope the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad crossing at CC Road in Montz. The present crossing has a very steep slope, which could injure truck traffic.

• Addition of a Norco interchange along Interstate 10. This project would build a road parallel to the East Guide Spillway Levee, relieve traffic congestion in the area and serve as an additional evacuation route.

• Conduct a traffic study of the U.S. 90/Paul Maillard Road interchange in Boutte. This intersection is heavily congested and a study would seek ways to relieve that situation.

• Install street lighting on U.S. Highway 90 from the Jefferson Parish line to the Lafourche Parish line.

• Extend the Earhart Expressway to link with Interstate 310.

• Add center turn lanes on U.S. Highway 90, in Paradis and Des Allemands.

• Add a center turn lane on River Road from Sugarhouse Road to Interstate 310 in Luling.

• Add a guardrail along Old Spanish Trail in front of Antioch Baptist Church’s cemetery.

• Widen and improve River Road from Ormond Boulevard to the Jefferson Parish line.

• Overlay La. Highway 3160 between River Road and La. Highway 3127 in Taft.