La. 42-La. 431 roundabout to open Tuesday

PORT VINCENT — A $1.24 million roundabout at La. 42 and La. 431 in Ascension Parish opens Tuesday to traffic, state highway officials said.

Additional work remains on the first state-constructed modern roundabout in the greater Baton Rouge area but drivers can use the roundabout for the first time Tuesday, highway officials said.

In the coming months, lane closures are expected as the final layers of asphalt go down and lighting is installed, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development officials said in a news release Monday.

The one-lane roundabout is being built at the T-intersection of La. 431 and La. 42, west of the Amite River Bridge, near the Livingston Parish line. Work began in February.

Modern roundabouts are circular intersections without traffic control lights that carry continuous traffic flows and improve safety, officials said.

According to plans, travel lanes are 20 feet wide while, inside the travel lanes, a 21-foot-wide circular apron will be installed to ease the transit of trailers and 18-wheelers.