NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Vandals have damaged ramp meters designed to improve traffic flow along the Pontchartrain Expressway, leaving only three of the seven meters operational, according to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD).

While some of the meters have been offline for years, the department is exploring options for repairs.

The ramp meters, which were installed in 2016, were intended to position vehicles during peak traffic. Drivers are signaled to stop for a few seconds when the light turns red and can continue to merge safely when it turns green.

“They’ve been vandalized recently. There’s been some copper theft and some pipe destruction,” said Scott Boyle, a DOTD official.

Boyle said vandalism began in 2017 and has continued. In the past two years alone, DOTD spent $50,000 on repairs, only to have the meters damaged again.

“A month later they were damaged again. We really don’t know who did the theft, but these are in a camp area,” said Boyle.

DOTD officials say a permanent fix would require hardening the system, an effort they’ve been working on for years.

“Ultimately, that would mean putting most of the electrical infrastructure underground,” Boyle said. – At some point, the wires have to go from the top of the ramp to where the electrical service is. We would have to implement a line that is robust and hard to break.”

State Sen. Pat Connick expressed frustration with the ongoing issue.

“They have a big job to do, but it seems like they’ve given up on this issue. It’s unacceptable, and we have to continue to do what we can to make it right and get these things going again,” Connick said .

While Connick said he understands the challenges, he doesn’t support spending more taxpayer money on repairs without addressing the recurring theft problem.

“We have introduced laws to make it difficult for copper and scrap metal to be sold. That’s who’s the culprit there, Connick said.

DOTD estimates that fully repairing the system and making it more resistant to vandalism could cost between $250,000 and $500,000.

“We anticipate the hardness of the system and getting everything working could be anywhere from a quarter to half a million dollars to get the system back functional and in working order,” Boyle said.

The department plans to secure the sites by installing fencing around areas previously occupied by camps. Once the sites are safe, DOTD intends to proceed with repairs.

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