SLEEPER CELL: Hurricane Zeta was a "minor" Category 1 storm when it blew ashore last year, and it was easy to underestimate against the backdrop of a record-breaking season. But the state Insurance Department now ranks the storm among the costliest ever to hit the New Orleans area.
A BRIDGE TOO FAR? Meet the two men pitching a controversial solution to a recurring problem on the north shore: traffic snarls caused by the swing bridge in Mandeville. They advocate a toll bridge over the Tchefuncte River, but the idea hinges on also charging those who use the swing bridge, a necessary provision that has made the idea harder to swallow for some elected officials.
FAT CITY: A corner lot in Fat City that has been pegged for years as a pocket park will likely be much, much more. Jefferson Parish stakeholders have amassed nearby property with plans to add a parking structure and some community space. You can read about how the plans for the roughly two-acre site have evolved here.
All this and much more are in today’s Front Page and on NOLA.com. Thanks for starting your day with us.
For the last five years, a sign at Hessmer Avenue and 18th Street in Metairie's Fat City has advertised that the empty lot there will soon be home to a pocket park. Read more
It’s a north shore commuter’s dream: driving along Louisiana 22 and over the Tchefuncte River in traffic that flows as smoothly as the river itself. No miles-long trail of brake lights, white knuckles on steering wheels or lengthy commute times that can exponentially increase with a mechanical failure of the swing bridge in Madisonville. Read more
