Department of Transportation and Development
Ronald Carter
District Traffic Operations Engineer
P O Box 831
Baton Rouge, La 70821

I would like to bring to your attention serious safety violations now under way with the repaving of Highway 74 from Highway 30 by R.G. Sullivan contractors.

In the week or so that construction has been under way I have observed the following:

q Flag person(s) not doing a proper job of traffic control. E.g. talking to equipment operators with their backs to on coming traffic.

q Lack of warning signs. Only recently installed in a sufficient amount in the past few days.

I would appreciate your looking into this matter making sure the safety requirements stipulated in the contract issued to the R.G. Sullivan Contractors be put in place.

I would also strongly recommend that these safety infractions be put on record and taken into consideration on future state contract bids.

Cc/email to:
The Ascension Citizen
Ascension Parish CAO Mr. R. Anderson
The Ascension Parish Council c/o Mr. R. Loupe
Mr. Martin McConnell Ascension Parish Council District 10
Mr. Dudley Brown Ascension Parish Council District 4
Mr. Darnell Martinez Ascension Parish Council District 11
Mr. Jerry Savoy Ascension Parish Council District 9
Mr. Shafter Kling Ascension Parish Council District 8
Mr. Donnell Nickens Ascension Parish Council District 5
Mr. Alvin Thomas Ascension Parish Council District 1
Mr. Adrian Thompson Ascension Parish Council District 3
Mr. Harold Marchand Ascension Parish President
Ms. Patricia Cook Ascension Parish Executive Secretary
Mr. Doyle Mitchell Ascension Parish Public Works
Mr. Bill Roux Ascension Parish Public Works
Mr. Jeff Wiley Ascension Parish Sheriff c/o Mr. Tony Bacala
Mr. & Mrs. Bill Essary
Mr. David Young The Gonzales Weekly
Mr. David Young The Community Mirror
Mr. David Young Ascension Parish TV
Mr. R. Carter Louisiana Department of Transportation
Mr. G. Nelson Louisiana Department of Transportation
Mr. John MacMillan The Advocate’s River Parish Office
Representative Emma Devillier
Representative John Juba Diez
Representative Roy Quezaire, Jr.
Senator Louis J. Lambert Louisiana State Senate
Mr. Steven Ward The Advocate’s River Parish Office
WBRZ Channel 2 News Room Mr. Marvin Hurst
WBRZ Channel Two Road Patrol Ms. Jennifer Sheffield

A copy of this letter has been published to the web site Inside Ascension Parish at http://www.inascension.com

From: RonnieCarter@dotd.state.la.us
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2001 8:08 AM
To: JoeyTureau@dotd.state.la.us
Cc: clemieux@inascension.com; RoySchmidt@dotd.state.la.us;
TomLandry@dotd.state.la.us
Subject: r_g_sullivan.doc

Joey, I'm forwarding this e-mail from Mr. Le Mieux for your further
handling.
---------------------- Forwarded by Ronnie Carter/district61/ladotd/us on
11/05/2001 08:12 AM ---------------------------

"Chuck Le Mieux" <clemieux@inascension.com> on 11/02/2001 04:45:20 PM

From: Chuck Le Mieux [clemieux@inascension.com]
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2001 5:09 PM
To: RonnieCarter@dotd.state.la.us
Subject: RE: r_g_sullivan.doc

Mr. Carter,
Who is Joey? And can I expect contact by him with the results of his investigation?

From: RonnieCarter@dotd.state.la.us
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2001 5:15 PM
To: Chuck Le Mieux
Subject: RE: r_g_sullivan.doc

He's the project engineer for the project you were referring to. He is the
appropriate person to handle your concern. I would expect him to contact
you (which is why I copied him with your e-mail address), but since he's
not under my supervision it's not my place to tell him what to do. You
have his e-mail address, if you need to contact him.

From: JoeyTureau@dotd.state.la.us
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2001 8:29 AM
To: Chuck Le Mieux
Subject: Re: FW: r_g_sullivan.doc

Mr. LeMieux:

I also had concerns about the signs and advance warnings that were on this
project. And as you have also noticed, there have been significant
improvements. We are encouraging motorists to use alternate routes, such
as taking La. 3115, to avoid this construction. However, in your case,
since you work in the project area, I realize this is not possible. This
type of construction admittedly, is very messy and the only way of handling
the situation is to travel extremely slow. The soil cement operations that
the contractor has been doing for the last 2 weeks should finish today.
This work will be done from east of the Prison to the Iberville/Ascension
parish line. An alternate route to avoid the construction would be to go
east on La. 74 to La. 30. The contractor is going to start asphalt paving
operations tomorrow (Wednesday). This operation should take about 2 weeks,
if the weather cooperates.

I will continue to monitor the contractor's operations to insure the
safety of the travelling public. We have stressed to the contractor to
have their flag people to be more attentive. There is going to be another
2 to 3 weeks of construction that is going to be messy for motorists. Our
main problem is getting all motorists to obey the speed limit and travel
very slow in construction areas.

I called your house this morning at 8:15. Your wife informed me that you
work at the prison and get off work at 4:30. I gave her my pager number in
case you wanted to contact me this evening. My office number is 675-5320.

Joey Tureau
DOTD Project Engineer

From: Chuck Le Mieux [clemieux@inascension.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2001 7:44 AM
To: Department of Transportation and Development
Cc: WBRZ TV Channel 2 Road Patrol; WBRZ TV News; Tonya Madere; Steven Ward; Senator Louis Lambert; Representative Roy Quezaire Jr.; Representative John Juba Diez; Representative Emma J. Devillier; Department of Transportation and Development; Department of Transportation and Development; Bill & Stephanie Essary; Ascension Parish Sheriff Department; Ascension Parish Public Works; Ascension Parish President; Ascension Parish Executive Secretary; Ascension Parish Councilman; Ascension Parish Councilman; Ascension Parish Councilman; Ascension Parish Councilman; Ascension Parish Councilman; Ascension Parish Councilman; Ascension Parish Councilman; Ascension Parish Councilman; Ascension Parish Council CO; Ascension Parish CAO; Ascension Citizen
Subject: Highway 74 construction

I must again bring to your attention serious safety infractions due to road construction on highway 74 by the contractor R.G. Sullivan.

At the point where paving stopped this contractor has left a dangerous bump. There is a warning sign there, but it is so close to the bump that unsuspecting motorists are on top of it before they have time to react. In addition I believe that this bump could have been feathered down much better to eliminate it all together.

There is also a bump in front of the women's prison where additional pavement has been added. This bump has no warning sign.

On top of the danger that the bumps create it is also has the capability of causing damage to vehicles. e.g. front end alignments.

All in all I believe you will agree with me that this contractor, R.G. Sullivan has shown total disregard for the safety and property of motorists using this road while under construction.

Again I ask that this matter be resolved, and that R. G. Sullivan be given a written reprimand of the infractions they have created and that these reprimands be seriously considered on any future bids.

From: JoeyTureau@dotd.state.la.us
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2001 9:26 AM
To: Chuck Le Mieux
Subject: Re: Highway 74 construction

I will have the entire project re-checked to insure that all necessary
signs are in place. All bumps should have signs sufficient to warns
motorists. However, not all motorists pay attention to the signs that are
there. Also, if there are too many signs, motorists have more of a
tendency to ignore them.

To: JoeyTureau@dotd.state.la.us
Cc: Our Roads
Subject: RE: Highway 74 construction

Evidently you did not have the entire project re-checked, or if you did your efforts were in vain.

This entire project from beginning to end has been a shame when it comes to motorist safety. Your handling of this project and its contractor are fast making you a prime candidate for one of the Inside Ascension Parish web sites incompetence awards due to be presented on December 31st 2001.

From: JoeyTureau@dotd.state.la.us
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2001 7:22 AM
To: Chuck Le Mieux
Subject: RE: Highway 74 construction

Any specifics?

From: Chuck Le Mieux [clemieux@inascension.com]
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2001 4:22 PM
To: JoeyTureau@dotd.state.la.us
Subject: RE: Highway 74 construction

I believe my past correspondence covered most of the hazards. A visit by you would have confirmed this.

I see that the contractor returned today after leaving the road in disarray for a week. Hopefully they will finish the job this time and remove what obstacles still exist.