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Intersection closure near LSU disrupts local businesses
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BATON ROUGE - The intersection of Highland Road and Chimes Street near LSU is closed this week for road repairs, creating detours for drivers and slowing traffic to nearby businesses.
Barista Isabella Cordoba said the closure has affected her daily routine at Highland Coffees.
“Probably around 200 coffees a day, and it’s definitely gone down, it’s a lot slower,” Cordoba said. She added that the slowdown has made mornings stressful for customers. “It’s a lot of stress on the customers, and it’s kind of making people kind of not want to come here because it’s a hassle.”
The city-parish Street Rehabilitation Program crews began work at the intersection on Saturday, March 7, and the closure is expected to remain in place through Sunday, March 15. Workers are digging out the intersection and installing a concrete patch to strengthen the roadway.
Cordoba said the construction has also affected her commute.
“So I usually take Dalrymple all the way down and take State Street, but the construction is making it where you have to go around through campus, and you have to go through campus and down this one way,” she said.
Officials advised drivers, including emergency vehicles, to use alternate routes such as Dalrymple Drive to East State Street, or Lake Street to West State Street during the closure.
Fred Raiford, EBR Director of Transportation and Drainage, said the repairs are intended to prevent larger problems later.
“We want to be sure that the road base is where it needs to be, and I want to go in and overlay a roadway, and then a few months later we go in and have a base problem, and I think that’s a bad situation,” Raiford said.
Raiford added that another construction project is planned for Bluebonnet Road, from Jefferson Highway just past Gail Drive, in the coming weeks.
Cordoba said she hopes the detours clear soon so the morning rush and the coffee crowd can return to normal.
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