Straddling the St. James-St. John Parish line, the Veterans Memorial Bridge towers more than 260 feet above the Mississippi River in Gramercy, though it was dubbed by some as “The Bridge to Nowhere” in 1995 when it opened.

But that name may change as changes to the access to the bridge are ready to open.

WWL-TV

The Gramercy Bridge

Up until recently, drivers on the west bank side of LA 3213 have had to detour to River Road after crossing because there is no link to LA 3127 – the east-west highway that connects to U.S. 90 on the west bank.

As of Tuesday that will change, when the state opens a new $28 million extension road from the Gramercy Bridge to LA 3127.

St. James Parish President Dale Hymel said the opening is a long time coming.

“That's the most often asked question that resident will say, 'Well when is the bridge road going to open?'" Hymel said.

Residents in Vacherie will benefit from the opening.

"As they travel to the east bank or go to Baton Rouge to I-10 it shortens the trip by fifteen minutes," Hymel said.

Hymel and parish officials also foresee an economic boom for the west bank.

"As the traffic coming off that bridge and then getting on (LA) 3127, I think that traffic increase will generate a lot of business to develop there, similar to what it did in Lutcher and Gramercy when the bridge opened," Hymel said.

St. John Parish President Bill Hubbard shares Hymel’s economic vision.

"St. James, St. John, regionally this is going to be beneficial for both of us,” Hubbard said.  “St. James has a lot of industrial aspects right now that's looking into their parish.  We're hoping that with those businesses coming to St. James that some of them will trickle on over to our parish."

The two-lane extension hit a snag during the two-year process after the project called for Entergy to energize the crossarms at a railroad crossing.

The plan was shot down because power lines would have had to be run across two miles of land.

It took a while for Entergy to clear the land and deal with right-of-way issues, but the company finished the job May 29.

Now, the striping is complete on the Gramercy Bridge and soon drivers will have to rename their bridge to nowhere.