State highway officials have pushed back the completion date of a $15.5 million project to widen La. 73 in Ascension Parish to June, making it about eight months later than the original target date given when construction began in the fall of 2011.
Officials say the contractor is having trouble with tight spaces involved in the Prairieville-area project that is also complicated by efforts to protect large oak trees along the highway.
Barber Brothers Contracting Co. LLC is widening narrow La. 73 from two lanes to three and adding shoulders. As part of the job, the company has to find space for utility line relocations and new drainage infrastructure within tight confines.
Part of the project also involves laying down new parish sewer lines.