By Bonnie Culverhouse
City of Minden will be applying for a grant next week that would allow an access road from U.S. Hwy. 80 to Industrial Drive (service road). However, the route of the road is still in the discussion phase.
“These decisions will affect us all, one way or another,” Mayor Nick Cox said Tuesday during a public meeting at city hall. “This project is very much in the infancy stage … it’s very hypothetical. We are just trying to get easier access to the service road.”
Representatives from Manchac Consulting Group presented the full council, as well as several members of the community, with a slideshow of numbers and maps supporting the alternate route as a traffic alleviation.
Ben Rauschenbach said that with limited road capacity and outdated infrastructure, the risk of accidents and collisions has heightened since the original service road was built.
“The existing roadways are unable to handle the increasing volume of vehicles, leading to long delays and frustration among commuters,” Rauschenbach said. “The congestion also impacts the local economy as businesses struggle with transportation logistics.”
A draft of the map shows a road temporarily dubbed Harvey’s Way that would connect Hwy. 80 with the original dead-end road currently with the same name (Harvey’s Way) with a proposed speed limit of 30 miles per hour. They are recommending a dedicated left turn lane connecting 80 on the north end of the corridor.
Not everyone in attendance was happy with the map. James Johnson owns property in the area where the access road is shown on the original proposal. It has been in his family since the 1880s, he said.
“Right where it (access road) turns, that hill just south is actually where I want to build my house where I plan to retire,” Johnson said. “I’m not opposed to a connecting road. It’s actually a great idea, however, I don’t want it to come through my backyard.”
An alternate route would take the new road through low-lying areas that flood.
The 6.1 million dollar project would be funded primarily from the RAISE grant for which Manchac is applying on behalf of the city.
A RAISE grant, (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity), is a federal discretionary program through the U.S. Department of Transportation.
According to Rauschenbach, it is a “highly competitive grant. There are between 300 and 500 applications, so we are trying very hard to put Minden right in there with the mix and meet what we believe to be all the various criteria.”
“Our eligibility will decide whether we are qualified for the grant and whether we will receive 100 percent of the money or have a 20 percent match,” said the mayor.
District D councilman Michael Roy said he is concerned about the money if the city has to come up with 20 to 25 percent of $6.1 million – or approximately $1.3 million.
“What is the road going to actually do to generate business?” Roy asked. “To spend the city’s $1.3 million, that’s a big number. I’m not trying to be negative, I’m just trying to look at the whole picture.”