Which road to fix first?

• By BOB ANDERSON
• Florida Parishes bureau
• Published: May 5, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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LIVINGSTON — Faced with far fewer dollars for road paving than in years past, Livingston Parish officials are looking at which roads need to be overlaid next and what quality of work should be done.

A few members of the parish council said they feel the parish needs a master plan that sets parishwide priorities to determine which roads should be done and when.

Councilwoman Cindy Wale said she thinks the goal should be to help the most people by dealing with the problem roads that have the most traffic.

“I would rather see a master plan that prioritizes the roads,” rather than the council spending the available money paving gravel roads that have two houses on them, she said.

Wale, who represents a mostly urban district near Denham Springs, concedes that the master plan idea does not appear ready to fly.
Though the issue has not come to a vote, a majority of council members indicate they favor dividing the money between the nine council districts and allowing the council member in each district to decide which roads to resurface with the money allotted to the district.

The council members in each district know what needs to be done in their areas, said Ronnie Sharp, who represents a rural area in the southern part of the parish.

If the council members do not make the right decisions, they have to answer to their constituents, he said.

Council Chairman Jimmy McCoy said he likes aspects of the master plan concept, but some areas of the parish would never get any road work done if traffic were the priority for selection.

Also, with the relatively small amount of money available this year, doing one or two major roads would eat up all of the funds and leave nothing for other districts, he said.

Parish President Mike Grimmer said it appears the parish can afford to spend about $5 million this year for road resurfacing.

That only comes to a little more than $500,000 for each district, which will not be enough to do major roads, said Councilman A.C. “Buddy” Mincey.

In fact, the amount is a pittance compared to the past two years when the parish spent a about $50 million on road resurfacing.

The council accumulated that money by selling bonds to pay for the work. However, the bonds have to be paid back over the next 15 years from the sales tax dedicated to road work. That cuts into the amount of work that can be done this year and in the immediate future.