The city of Jennings is expected to sanction a $3.9 million contract on Tuesday resulting in a major street overlay project across the city.

The city council is poised to award a contract to Elliot Construction of Grand Coteau for the project during a 5:30 p.m. Aug. 13 council meeting, setting the stage for construction to be underway by the end of the year, according to Mayor Henry Guinn. The company was the lowest of three bidders submitted for the project.

“We accepted bids for the project on Thursday and the project came at $3.9 million – which was under our budget of $4.3 million – so I anticipate the city council will accept that bid on Tuesday,” Guinn said.

If approved, construction could be underway by the end of the year. The project is expected to completed by May, weather permitting.

“This is a very, very large project with asphalt overlay, reconstruction and widening, so it will take some time,” Guinn said.

Streets that are in line to be improved include 11th Street, 12th Street, 13th Street, North Church Street, North State Street, North Main Street, Gaynel Street, Williams Street, Magnolia Drive, Comfort Lane, Acadian Drive, Royale Drive, High Line Drive, Florence Street, May Street, Greenwood Drive, East Academy Avenue, River Oak Drive, River View Drive, Cassidy Drive, Ruland Street, Dubois Street, East Nezpique Street, Louise Street, Shine Alley, Short Street and Touchet Road.

The asphalt overlay will be in conjunction with a Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development project to overlay U.S. 90 from the railroad overpass west of Jennings to Cutting Avenue and south to U.S. 90 and north to Roberts Avenue.

“It’s going to be chaotic for a while, but that’s just the way it fell,” Guinn siad.

The biggest impact from the city project will be on the full reconstruction and widening of Lucas Street to include curbs and gutters to accommodate the car pickup line at Our Lady of Immaculate Catholic School on Roberts Avenue. Some minor inconveniences could occur during the construction project, but the inconvenience will be worth it, Guinn said.

“It will give vehicles room to actually park and stage on the side of the road to help oncoming traffic during the school’s pickup and drop-off times,” Guinn said.

Guinn said the city has delayed its asphalt overlay projects for the last three years while it focused on hurricane recovery.

“Typically every year we allocate $500,000 to $600,000 for asphalt overlay and repairs throughout the city, but this is one of the largest asphalt projects that we have done in the city and it is because we rolled over that money,” he said.

“The community is going to see a very large impact because we strategically picked sections that are based on chronological orders of repairs,” he continued. “The city has a map that shows when the roads were repaired and we picked the oldest roads to repair in different areas.”

Money for the project will come from the city’s general fund balance.

In other roadwork, the city is working to install new LED lightning along the interstate and the intersection of La. 26 and the service road is under construction.