Part of West Lakeshore Drive was closed off for emergency construction on Monday. The closure has rerouted student and bus traffic through the southside UREC parking lot.
The road, which is home to LSU’s sorority row, was closed off from its intersection at Campus drive to the Greek parking lot entrance between Zeta Tau Alpha and Alpha Delta Pi houses.
The emergency repair was initiated because water had infiltrated cracks in the asphalt, resulting in an unstable base, said Tammy Millican, executive director for Facility and Property Oversight at LSU.
“This repair had to be done immediately to prevent additional damage to the asphalt,” Millican said. “In terms of safety, the unstable base occurred in a curve in the road, so it is closed while the repair takes place.”
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As of Wednesday, a significant portion of asphalt has been removed from the westbound lane.
The construction and subsequent rerouting of traffic has affected students in Greek life.
“It’s really lagging in time and the traffic gets really bad because of the buses and people needing to park,” said psychology major Sara Jane Williams.
Traffic can get especially bad when construction closures like this overlap with Greek life events.
“Sororities have chapters earlier in the week, so it’s really inconvenient when everyone’s trying to get down sorority row,” said psychology major Olivia Lynch. “The same thing is probably going to happen the rest of the week.”
A new concrete base will be added Wednesday, followed by an overlay of asphalt on Thursday, Millican said. The road is scheduled to reopen on Friday, Sept. 29.
An excavator seats near barriers on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, on West Lakeshore Drive in Baton Rouge, La.
