New pond targets Garden District flooding, Rochelle will close for construction

Tree clearing should begin shortly for a new retention pond at the Rochelle Avenue pump station. 

Project Manager Arthur Holland said notice was given on the $1,396,736 construction project Monday, with a contract period of 180 days. The work is funded through a 90/10 match of state and local dollars. The city portion, 10 percent, will be paid for through the capital infrastructure tax revenue fund. The remaining 90 percent would be funded through the Louisiana Statewide Flood Control Program.

Portions of Rochelle Avenue and McKeen Street will close during the construction and could remain closed for approximately four months. 

"Last year we had a tremendous amount of flooding throughout the city of Monroe," Mayor Jamie Mayo said,"Several departments have worked extremely hard to see what we could do to alleviate some of the flooding challenges we have had..."

City Engineer Kim Golden said the retention pond will be like a giant bathtub and address some of the flash flooding in the region during periods of really intense rain. 

In a prior interview, Mayo said the project has moved through the Louisiana DOTD statewide flood control program since 2012. It fit the criteria for the state program because 246 homes in the area flooded during an April 2011 flood.

Golden said the pond has a 231-acre drainage area and will benefit several hundred homes in the area. 

"Not all of them flood but there are some in there that flood very frequently," she said.