LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — Revamping a portion of Bertrand Drive will require a substantial amount of money. Bertrand is a revitalization project that sits high on Lafayette’s Mayor-President Monique Blanco Boulet’s list. On June 6, Boulet signed off on a council-approved ordinance that could address this need.

One of Mayor-President Boulet’s priorities at the start of her administration was to revitalize Johnston Street.

“Johnston Street is a really heavy lift,” Boulet said. “There are a lot of issues. We’re talking from Ambassador Caffery, all through Louisiana Avenue to I-10.”

Boulet states Johnston is the heart of Lafayette but to revitalize it in a timely manner it would be better if LCG owned the road.

“The other piece that’s critical is Bertrand. Bertrand is owned by the state as well. In order to get construction moving on that project, we need ownership of Bertrand,” Boulet added.

Boulet says the notifications along Bertrand Drive are to be significant, including drainage.

“Access in many of the driveways to the businesses. We’ve worked very closely with those businesses,” she said. “We’ve been through a lot of the foundational work and are ready to position it for construction, but we need ownership of those roads.”

According to council records, councilman Andy Naquin agreed to support the road swap ordinance if an economic development district is created.

“The purpose of creating a taxing district is to find funding for our MP’S (Mayor-President’s) road swap for which there is no excess in LCG’s current revenue stream. The money will not miraculously appear,” according to part of Naquin’s statement to KLFY.

The mayor-president acknowledges how paying for the revitalization project is a genuine concern. Boulet states that she respects Naquin for acknowledging that.

“We agreed to look at that, and we are, but we are going to look at several different options and work with Andy to come up with the best solution forward. An EDD could be a very viable option. It might not be the only one to consider, though,” Boulet explained.

Boulet says work along Bertrand will be ready to go probably by the end of the year, if not, by the first quarter.  

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