ST. CLAUDE AVENUE BRIDGE COULD BE RAISED

DURING PEAK TRAFFIC TIMES

Due to the very high-river stage, the Port of New Orleans will temporarily suspend the St. Claude Avenue bridge curfew, which keeps the bridge in its lowered position during the morning and afternoon vehicular commute times.

This decision, which was made in consultation with U.S. Coast Guard to avoid delays in navigation, could result in the bridge being raised in the morning and evening during high vehicular traffic times when the bridge would normally be kept open for cars and trucks.

Normally, the St. Claude Avenue Bridge does not have to open upon signal from marine traffic during the bridge curfew, weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. to make it easier for commuters to cross the Inner Harbor Navigational Canal (Industrial Canal) during peak traffic hours.

The curfew on the St. Claude Avenue Bridge will be suspended until the river stage on the Carrollton Gauge falls to 9 feet. Currently, the water level on the Carrolton Gauge is around 15 feet and expected to crest at 17 feet. The curfew on the Florida Avenue Bridge and Judge Seeber Bridge (Claiborne Avenue) will still be in effect and commuters are encouraged to use these bridges to bypass the St. Claude Avenue Bridge.

The Port has decided to suspend the curfew starting Tuesday morning at the request of the United States Coast Guard because the high river stage has significantly increased the delays that vessels experience when transiting the locks and is causing long backlogs of maritime traffic in the canal and the river.

The St. Claude Avenue Bridge works in concert with the Inner Harbor Navigational Canal Lock to allow barges, tugboats and ships to travel from the Mississippi River to the Industrial Canal or vice versa. A lock is a navigational structure that allows vessels to travel from one waterway to another waterway that has a different water level.

Under normal conditions, there are maritime delays at the lock because of its age and small size. The high river stage on the Mississippi River increases the delays because the lock must pump more water to adjust for the increased water level of the Mississippi River.

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