GONZALES, LA (AP) — The Ascension Parish Council has agreed to a $132.5 million spending plan for the new year.
The council approved Thursday setting aside $38.7 million on capital improvements for roads, major drainage, new lighting at parish parks and new soccer fields at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center.
Among the road projects, the 2016 budget includes $5.2 million in state appropriations for a road connecting the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center to the Edenborne mixed-use development and Louisiana Highway 44.
The Advocate’s David J. Mitchell reports Sheriff Jeff Wiley and outgoing Parish President Tommy Martinez have said the road will provide a critical second route to the parish-owned multiuse complex near Gonzales. Martinez said he hopes a ceremonial groundbreaking for that road could happen before the end of the year, though work is expected to start in 2016.
