Hwy 165 Street Closures

A community meeting held by officials of La. DOTD with NELA state representatives and members of the community was held Saturday, April 22, 2023 in an effort to seek clarification and answers on how a Hwy 165 Road/Street project will continue. The meeting held according to those connected with the proposed project was to clear up what could only be described as confusion in a community that feels that it hasn't been given sufficient information to truly understand exactly what is going on and how will the community be affected. There is a project on the drawing board still in the "concept" stage according to DOTD officials of plans to close certain streets within the Hwy 165 corridor inside of the city limits of Monroe, which it says concerns "safety issues". Not so very long ago, a rumor or unsubstantiated story got out that Renwick Street and Louberta Street will be closed at Hwy 165 because of safety concerns not revealed to the public. It was at an Ouachita Parish Library meeting, where it was heard of a closing of the Carver-McDonald Library which happens to be located on Renwick Street, blocks from Hwy 165. The city of Monroe was allegedly alerted such an undertaking would be done on Hwy 165 to which it allegedly agreed. The affected community was alarmed in that no one told them of DOTD's intentions, as until the April 22 meeting, no one knew exactly what was going on. The community got some answers at the meeting, but according to DOTD and area representatives Sen. Katrina Jackson, State Representatives Pat Moore, and Adrian Fisher, there is "no done deal".

Members of the community did learn that if the project proceeds as planned, there will be street closures such as Hadley Street at Hwy 165. East Street which goes directly to Wossman High School would be slated to stay open as well as Renwick Street which leads to Carroll High, Jr. High from Hwy 165. If the project goes as planned in the "conceptual" stages, "J" turns would be installed, as well as the use of "push button" devices where pedestrians would press it, signaling the traffic to turn red, enabling them to cross the busy intersections. But one thing that was made clear at the meeting was that, some things that the community thought that they would get to enhance safety such as new overhead crosswalks were a no-go. Too expensive they were told. But items such as a bike lane and sidewalks would be constructed, along with certain street closures, which would be part of what could be included in federal funding through DOTD. That appeared to be a point of contention because the public was just finding out things that they didn't know before. DOTD officials and the state's delegation went to great lengths to stress that the funding had to follow federal guidelines and that the funds had to be spent on specific items, or there would be no money allocated. There wouldn't be any beautification projects as some may see on some portions of Hwy 165 within Monroe city limits. But DOTD officials did appear to have some difficulty explaining why the community wasn't involved sooner, especially after Monroe city officials were told first and the community find out about things on Facebook. One official said that a "finite" decision wasn't made when city officials were contacted, that the conversations "didn't happen" when they should have, but "there were always going to going to happen". This is like trying to get the horses back in the corral, now that they are outside running wild. The explanation just doesn't stick. But our state delegation and DOTD officials both agreed that the project is not going forward until the community signs off on the it, but that the issue of safety on Hwy 165 is their first concern and that of the community.

Photo Hwy 165-Residents Dr. Ollibeth Reddix and Peggy JOnes question DOTD Official pg 1

Photo Hwy 156 1-Elected and Legislative Delegation St. Reps Adrian Fisher, Pat Moore School Board Member Betty Cooper and Senator Katrina Jackson (Jump Photo)