It is difficult to miss the noisy and extensive construction along Broadway Street. 

For the last four years, this roadwork has disrupted the west side of Tulane University’s campus, and neither the residents nor the construction workers are sure when it will come to an end. 

The construction has surpassed its estimated completion date of spring 2023, and a new date has yet to be calculated.

According to a statement from Alice Noel, a communications specialist for the Sewage and Water Board of New Orleans, “the sewer work on Broadway is largely completed,” and a new estimated completion date will be provided soon.

Broadway’s construction is a single part of a larger sewage and drainage project in the neighborhood, classified by Roadwork Nola as a full reconstruction of roads in Audubon Group B.

According to Noel, the construction is part of the SWBNO’s Sewer System Evaluation and Rehabilitation Program. She said the SSERP is a “multiyear program to address structural and mechanical deficiencies in the wastewater collection system.” 

Hard Rock Construction oversees and subcontracts the construction to other companies. The work at the intersection of Jeanette Street and Broadway, just less than a quarter mile from Tulane’s campus, is subcontracted to CMG Pipelines. 

Jeremiah Williams is a laborer with CMG Pipelines and finds the silver lining of the construction project. “I don’t really get frustrated,” Williams said. “I like learning new things… and there’s a lot of fun people to work around.” 

CMG foreman Shawn, who only agreed to give his first name, and his construction crew have been working over the last two weeks to install sewage pipes. When this is complete next week, “I’ll be done, and I’ll be gone,” Shawn said. 

The temporary contracts contribute to the uncertainty of when the Broadway construction will be completed, as each company contributes to a fraction of the overall sewage and drainage repairs. This leaves residents with roadwork completion dates for only one subcontract at a time.

Two blocks down the street from CMG’s assigned site sits the Broadway office of two network engineers, Dustin Powers and Brian Merlino.  

Sewage pipes that have yet to be installed run down the center of the road and encroach on driving space. “We often have to back up into that pipe because it has just been sitting there for months,” Powers said. 

The pipes also block intersections, requiring Powers and Merlino to find alternative routes to work, since the corner to turn is blocked by construction. 

The Boot Bar and Grill, a popular student bar, located on the corner of Zimple Street and Broadway, faces troubles from the ongoing construction. 

Pedro Estrada, a Boot bouncer, said the construction has diminished bar access, redirecting cars away from the Boot and making it hard to park around the building.

For the dorms near Broadway, the noise of construction is a nuisance. 

“The noise is pretty loud in the morning,” first-year Sybil Curran, a resident of Josephine Louise Residence Hall, said. “But it is probably better than the construction workers having to work in the heat.”

However, according to a presentation by the city, regular work hours are 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., requiring construction work to continue in the New Orleans heat.