Mayor Landrieu, City Officials Celebrate Completion of Oretha Castle Haley
Boulevard Revitalization Project
 Oretha Castle Haley Before the Streetscape Project
 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard After the Streetscape Project
NEW ORLEANS
– Today, Mayor Mitch Landrieu joined City and State officials, and community
stakeholders to celebrate the completion of the Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard Streetscape
Project from Calliope Street to St. Andrew Street in Central City. The $1.85 million project, which was designed
to revitalize the area, was funded through a Disaster-Community Development
Block Grant. Construction began in
August 2016.
“The completion of Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard will continue to
revitalize this important and historic corridor,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu. “This project will serve as a catalyst for
future growth and private investment for both the residents and businesses in
Central City.
The scope of work for this project included partial removal of the
neutral ground from Felicity Street to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, installing
wider pedestrian refuges at intersections, repairing damaged sidewalks, installing
new Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant curb ramps at intersections, restriping
the roadway from two travel lanes and a parking lane to one travel lane, bike
lane, and a parking lane in each direction, striping new high visibility
crosswalks and a bike lane, improving rain gardens, planting landscaping and
tree cuts and repaving the asphalt roadway.
Streetscape projects improve the area surrounding the roadway by
making them more pedestrian-friendly and encouraging people to walk or bike
rather than drive, as well as helping to trigger investment in the surrounding
community. The O.C. Haley Boulevard Streetscape
Project coincides with a number of new and improved developments on the
corridor including: Ashé Cultural Arts Center, Café Reconcile, Peoples Health
Jazz Market, Toups South, Casa Borrega, Primitivo, Dryades Market and the New
Orleans Redevelopment Authority Office.
Cedric S. Grant,
Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans Executive Director, said,
“Streetscape projects bring communities together. The Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
community will benefit greatly from the enhanced walkability this project
allows. Furthermore, the dedicated bike lane will encourage bicycle transit in
the area which relieves traffic congestion and promotes healthier living.”
District B
Councilmember LaToya Cantrell said, "These streetscape
improvements are another step in the continued revitalization of Oretha Castle
Haley Boulevard, which is vital to the overall health and prosperity of Central
City.”
Councilmember-at-Large
President Stacy Head said, “Today is a good day in Central
City. With these improvements complete, Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard can
continue to grow and attract businesses and nonprofits to the area. I want to
reiterate what I said at the beginning of this project, that this would not
have happened without hard work and dedication from both city employees and
community leaders. I am pleased to see this commercial corridor continue to
thrive and become a more vibrant part of the community.”
Councilmember-at-Large
Jason Rogers Williams said, “For well over a hundred years,
the Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard corridor has been a cornerstone of New
Orleans culture and entrepreneurial growth. This project is just one piece of
the most recent streetscape revival in a fiercely tenacious and vibrant
neighborhood. I am thrilled to see the infrastructure improvement and
beautification of this streetscape and look forward to the continued strength
of the diverse, local business community OC Haley has always fostered.”
Pat Forbes,
Louisiana Office of Community Development Executive Director, said,
“Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard is an important anchor for an historic cultural
corridor that was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina,” Pat Forbes, executive
director of the Office of Community Development, said. “This project to enhance
the OC Haley streetscape is a continuation of a large commitment by the City of
New Orleans to revitalize the area and provide increased incentive for
continued recovery investments by both private and public entities in the
surrounding Central City neighborhood”
Linda Pompa,
Executive Director of the Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard Merchants &
Business Association, said, “We are thrilled to have the
Oretha Castle Haley Streetscape Project complete. The corridor looks great and
the City and its contractors did an excellent job working with businesses and
residents to ensure we were involved in the process every step of the way.”
Since Mayor Landrieu took office in 2010, the City has completed
24 streetscape projects across New Orleans. Completed streetscape projects
include Harrison Avenue in Lakeview, Read Boulevard in N.O. East, Claiborne
Avenue in the Lower Ninth Ward, Freret Street in Uptown, Bayou Road in the Seventh
Ward, Galvez Street between new University Medical Center and the Veterans Affairs
hospital, and Broad and Washington in Broadmoor. The Oretha Castle Haley
Boulevard Streetscape Project is the 25th. Over $38 million in
funding has been committed to making commercial and residential corridors more
pedestrian and bike-friendly in New Orleans.
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