The Crescent City Connection is getting a literal glow-up: What drivers need to know
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You think this looks cool, but just wait 'til the lights are multi-colored and dimmable. Photo: Köhn/ullstein bild via Getty Images
Construction on the Crescent City Connection's lighting update is now underway, with 24/7 lane closures expected across both bridges through mid-August, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development says.
Why it matters: If you already hated driving over the CCC, it'll be even worse for most of the summer.
Fun fact: Once the project is complete, the CCC will have a lot more razzle-dazzle.
- The new lights will be programmable, dimmable and multicolored, just like the recent Caesars Superdome lighting upgrade, so DOTD can really jazz it up.
The fine print: For now, DOTD has closed the Tchoupitoulas Street onramp for West Bank-bound drivers and the far right lanes as you approach and drive beneath the overhead bridge beams in both directions.
- In July, that'll switch around, and DOTD will close the left-most lanes for drivers in both directions and reopen the West Bank-bound Tchoupitoulas onramp.
- That's expected to last through the middle of August, but construction will continue on the lights through early 2025.
Catch up quick: The bridges were first lit up in 1987, a decorative project gifted by the Young Leadership Council.
- The lights were maintained with funds from bridge tolls between 1989 and 2012, according to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.
- By the time an electrical surge from Hurricane Ida hit in 2021, DOTD says, the lighting system was outdated enough that a total overhaul was necessary to get things going again.
Follow the money: The $20.7 million project is being paid for by the state, though the city was originally on the hook for half that, a DOTD spokesman tells Axios New Orleans.
- Instead, the state took on payment for the bridge lighting project in exchange for New Orleans taking over ownership of a stretch of Hayne Boulevard in a road transfer credit, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reports.
Between the lines: The state was motivated to make that trade as it looks to offload some of its public road ownership, the paper says.
- The state owns more than a quarter of Louisiana's roads, but the national average is less than a fifth.
Zoom in: The lighting project was designed by Modjeski and Masters, the same Pennsylvania firm that originally designed the Crescent City Connection and the Huey P. Long bridge.
- The original project advertisement didn't give the OK for continuous lane closures — and it didn't get any contractors interested in it as a result, DOTD says.
- By ceding that point, the project moved forward with Frischhertz Electric Co. constructing.
The bottom line: Traffic is going to be pretty gnarly for awhile, but beauty is pain.