Attendance was much better at a second meeting held Wednesday night to gather public input on a proposed project to improve U.S. Highway 190 between Mandeville and Slidell.

The first public meeting, held last month, was poorly advertised and not well attended.

Therefore, Gary McClure with Shread-Kuyrkendall & Associates, the firm hired by the state Department of Transportation and Development to conduct a feasibility study, decided to hold a second public meeting in the Lacombe community before making any decisions.

Using a map and a marker, resident Ernie Walder shows engineer Alison Michel how people are using his side street to cut around and bypass traffic on U.S. Highway 190. Parish Councilman Steve Stefancik looks on and offers his own advice. (Staff Photo by Suzanne Le Breton)

Just over 50 residents showed up at the meeting Wednesday night and expressed their opinions and concerns.

McClure spent much of the meeting stressing to residents that the project is still in phase 0 and no decisions have been made.

“We are trying to determine if it should it be a project,” McClure said, adding that he cannot do that without the help of residents.

“People who live here know the idiosyncrasies of the neighborhood, “ he said. “You give us guidance as to what you are looking for take and take into consideration your recommendations when we make our decisions.”

Some of the items residents stressed should be considered for the project include widening bridges, installing a light at the intersection of Louisiana Highway 434 and U.S. 190 and widening the section of U.S. 190 between Front Street and Thompson Road to five lanes.

“That road is a death trap,” resident John Wells said. “People are dying out there, and people are going to continue to die.” Wells was talking about the section of roadway between Front Street and Thompson Road.

He suggested widening the bridges first and then, if funding is not available, widening one mile at a time until it is all widened to at least five lanes.

Parish planning commissioner and Lacombe resident Jimmy Davis said a traffic signal at the intersection of U.S. 190 and La. 434 is needed.

He said the road also needs lighting and needs to be widened in places.

“There are some people that live here that think if we widen the road we will lose the character of the area. I really don’t think we will,” he said. “Think of the lives we stand to lose if we don’t widen the road.”

However, many of the residents in attendance doubted if the project would ever make it to the construction phase.

“Why are we looking of a feasibility study if Highway 190 when it has been looked at before,” Parish Councilman Gene Bellisario said.

Wells said he passed out a petition years ago and gathered 2,400 signatures to have the road widened, but nothing was done.

“The original project was sevens lanes and would take people’s homes, peoples land and put businesses out of business. We don’t need that,” he said. Just build a damn road.”

Buddy Lloyd said if the state’s proposed plan has construction, if it happens at all, years down the line, the information being gathered now will be useless.

“I have doubt this will ever happen because all we have done is talk about it,” Lloyd said.

“We are recreating the wheel again and again,” resident Kort Hutcheson said.

Residents were asked to stay after McClure’s meeting and talk with engineers and mark on maps where problem areas are located.

McClure said at the next meeting he will have layouts of different options for residents to look at.