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Chuck Le Mieux |
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13085 Depen St. |
October 7, 2001
Ascension Parish Public Works
Bill Roux
42077 Church Point Road
Gonzales, La. 70737
Sir:
It has been approximately a year or more since the parish purchased a striping machine to paint lines on parish roads. If you had taken the time to inspect our roads, you would have found in the time since the purchase of this machine it has not been used to its full potential, that being saving lives.
Because of the dangerous condition of our sub standard roads, I would think that highly visible painted lines would be a number one priority of the D.P.W. Yet this does not seem to be the case.
Might I bring to your attention again that one hundred fourteen people have lost their lives on Ascension Parish roads from 1995 through 2000, and there is a very good possibility that traffic aides such as highly visible painted lines could have prevented some of these deaths.
According to the article that appeared in the local newspapers about the purchase of the striping machine, “Road striping according to the parish president will be on a priority basis to be decided by the D.P.W.”
It is my opinion,
and should be yours also, that the saving of lives should be the number one
priority of the D.P.W., and that you rethink those priorities and start using
this striping machine for the purpose it was intended. SAVING LIVES.
Chuck Le Mieux
Webmaster http://www.inascension.com
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: Dennis Babin [dbabin@ascension.par.la.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2001 11:14 AM
To: 'clemieux@inascension.com'
Cc: Bill Roux; Harold Marchand; Randall Anderson
Subject: Road Striping
Mr. Le Mieux,
Bill Roux asked me to respond to your recent e-mail concerning the striping
of parish roads. We appreciate your interest and hope that the following
information will be helpful in addressing your concerns.
You had mentioned that DPW currently has a striping machine for striping
parish roads. The only striping machine that DPW has is a small walk-behind
machine that was purchased to stripe parking lots or to do emergency spot
striping when needed. We can not use it for the general striping of
roadways.
Currently all striping is being done by contract as part of the road
improvement projects that we have been doing. All roads being reconstructed
or resurfaced with a width of 16' or greater are striped as a part of the
contract. We also add additional roads to the contract for striping when
the need has been identified.
A construction contract for several parish roads has recently been awarded
and construction should start soon. Roads that only need striping have been
identified and are also included in the contract. If you have concerns
regarding any specific roadway that needs striping, please let us know and
we will try to address it as soon as possible.
If you would like to further discuss any of our striping policies, please
call me at 621-8568. I would be happy to talk with you.
Dennis W. Babin
DPW Road Engineer
From: Chuck Le Mieux [clemieux@inascension.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2001 6:23 PM
To: Dennis Babin
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: RE: Road Striping
Mr. Babin,
Thank you for your quick response with regards to the parish' striping machine.
There seems to be a very big misunderstanding regarding this piece of equipment.
For those of us that read the original newspaper article one would led to
believe that this was a professional machine instead of a small walk behind
type.
Also, I disagree with striping only those roads reconstructed or resurfaced
with a width 16' or greater. It is the narrow back roads that hold the greatest
danger because they are narrow, usually in remote areas, and with little or no
lighting, making them a very serious safety issue. Bright yellow center lines
and white lines along the edge of these roads in my opinion is imperative to
driver safety. striping also Cleary indicates other dangers such as no passing
zones warning motorists of impending danger.
I also believe that this parish, which is one of the more financially well off
in the state, should be able to afford their own striping machine which can be
used more effectively to eliminate road dangers instead of waiting on contracts
to be let, and then only on specific roads.
The current administration has put forth a fair effort to remove some of the
dangers that exist on our roads created by previous administrations, with some
of those from past administrations still in office who continue to resist
implementing better safety standards.
I firmly believe that striping all roads in the parish should be a top
priority, and that this administration should make every effort to make this
happen. Hopefully your Mr. Roux will agree that the cost of a striping machine
is a small price to pay to save lives, and put forth a campaign to stripe all
the roads in the parish.
Your response to my original email to Mr. Roux, and this email have been posted
to the web site Inside Ascension Parish at http://www.inascension.com on the Our
Roads Page. This response has also been sent to all those who received my
original email to Mr. Roux.
Chuck Le Mieux
http://www.annasdollhouse.com
http://www.inascension.com
