BATON ROUGE - Pedestrians will soon have a safer way to cross and walk along a Baton Rouge Roadway thanks to an improvement project.

East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday afternoon at BREC Hartely/Vey Park for the Gardere Lane Pedestrian Improvement project.

Officials say the project will provide safe access for people to get to public transit, recreational facilities, places of employment and schools in the area. The project will also include buried drainage pipe for significant drainage improvements on the south side of Gardere Lane.

A number of people have been hit by cars walking along Gardere Lane. Many resort to the side of the road or its ditches to get around by foot. A bicyclist was killed in 2012 and a pedestrian was struck and killed in 2017.

The sidewalk project has been in the works for years. In 2015, the Baton Rouge Metro Council agreed to design and build a sidewalk and multi-use path along the stretch of road from Burbank Drive to Nicholson Road. By March 2017, the project had been drawn and would then go through a review phase. At that time, a six to nine month start date was given, which was delayed due to funding.

Now with the funding secure, the construction cost is $663,891.37 with an anticipated completion date of June 7, 2019.