State highway officials say work will begin in April on a busy stretch of U.S. Highway 190 that straddles Bayou Chinchuba in Mandeville.
The Times-Picayune reports the $11.3 million project will correct what many frustrated motorists have referred to as a hiccup in an earlier road improvement effort designed to ease east-west traffic flow through the heart of the city.
A 1.1-mile section will be widened from two to four lanes and a raised median will be added. The existing two-lane bridge over Bayou Chinchuba will be replaced with two new bridge spans, each with two lanes.
Preliminary work on the project will start soon, but actual construction will begin in early April.
The work should be completed by the spring of 2014.