IMPACTS ON OUR COMMUNITY

The Corps estimates the construction project will cost $951 million and endure 13 years, but recent reports are showing that the cost will be upwards to $1.4 billion dollars.
The project will disrupt not only local traffic, but local economies on both sides of the canal, causing daily traffic jams for more than 50,000 people and putting those same people at serious risk during hurricane season.
Some residents will need to “temporarily" move and only $58 million dollars has been set aside for massive relocation. An interim bridge will be built during construction of a new bridge, destroying the nationally significant lock and landmark St. Claude Bridge.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that national shipping and barge companies will see a cost benefit from the IHNC Lock Replacement Project in 50 years. All the while, this project will be using tax payers dollars, and local residents and businesses will experience all the inconveniences and diminished real estate values caused by construction and vulnerable economic and environmental conditions.

Yes, the levee walls broke in aftermath of Hurricane Betsy (August-September 1965) and Hurricane Katrina (August 2005).

Residents, homeowners, business and property owners will be impacted during the long period of construction in multiple ways. The Army Corps needs to dredge the canal and there will be exposure to toxic sediments (Barium, Chromium, Arsenic and Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons) at the bottom of the canal.
To construct new levee walls and the new lock the Army Corps must drive piles into the canal causing vibrations and dynamiting, disrupting the water table underneath streets, houses and businesses as far as 2 miles away from the Industrial Canal.
The proposed new lock replacement will be moving inland 12 blocks and will bring the water level of the Mississippi River further into the canals. putting more residents and business at risk of increased water levels and flooding.

This project will disrupt both sides of the Industrial Canal during the full length of the construction of the project (estimated at 13 years or more).
This project will discourage investment in new housing and business development on both sides of the Industrial Canal. The historic Holy Cross neighborhood is one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in the city with one of the most dramatic increases in home values. Arabi is also experiencing a renaissance.
The risk of flooding will increase in the area and flood insurance rates for homeowners will increase.
If the project were to be completed, the Army Corps estimates that the traffic bridges that are the only connections over the Industrial Canal will stay open for larger periods of time, significatly delaying access to critical services, schools, and jobs every day.