Kathleen Hilliard

The City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to proceed with an ordinance authorizing the City of Lake Charles to enter into an agreement for a road improvement project at the intersection of Sale Road and Ryan Street.

“If you’ve driven through that intersection … there’s two things you’ll remember about it. Coming from the west it’s very rough right there. There is also a hump that you cross over — you’ve got to know to slow down,” said Mike Huber, the director of planning and engineering.

The improvement project will involve replacing the bad concrete on both the east and west sides, milling down the hump to be more level and making all four corners handicap accessible per La. DOTD guidelines.

The entire fix is part of a larger, long-term plan for road improvements across the city from DOTD.

“We’re going from a very bumpy road on the west side to a smooth service — a smooth transition across Ryan Street, and then all four corners of the sidewalk area to be handicap accessible,” explained Huber.

This “quick fix” improvement is expected to take anywhere from 30 to 60 days. There is hope for the work to end in late December or early in the new year. The project was described as an improvement project that is relatively inexpensive and is expected to be received well.

“This project is a project that’s been on the books for several years now, and we’re finally at a point where we can award the bids. You know, we’re so cautious with everything going on right now … when you look at that intersection, it is so needed. I know that it is such a traversed intersection because it’s right there by McNeese State University,” said Mayor Nic Hunter, “It’ll probably mean a little more to the drivers going down Sale Street and it’ll mean that it won’t be as much of a rollercoaster when they get to the corner of Ryan and Sale, and I know that’ll be a welcome change for a lot of people in that intersection.”Ryan-Sale intersection

Crystal Stevenson