Hickory Avenue's Name Is Moving to a New Road, and Harahan's Holiday Season Starts at the Park of Heroes

Ask someone in Harahan for directions and you'll probably hear "Hickory Avenue" or "out by the Park of Heroes." By the time the holiday parade rolls down Jefferson Highway on Dec. 12, one of those names will already mean something new, and the other will be officially on its way to a different road.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has taken bids to build a new road that will carry the Hickory Avenue name. Over on 10th Street, the memorial park that honors Harahan's war dead now has a fenced, nearly 9,000-square-foot inclusive playground, and the city's holiday market is coming to the same address. State money is behind both projects, and both have deadlines this month.

The Hickory Avenue on today's signs is set to become a parish road

In an Oct. 5, 2026 announcement, DOTD said it will extend Dickory Avenue from Mounes Street to LA 48, which most people call Jefferson Highway. Once that extension is finished, the new road becomes Hickory Avenue and the new LA 3154. The Hickory Avenue that exists today will be transferred to Jefferson Parish.

That means the state route number and the familiar name will both move to the new alignment. The street you drive now stays where it is, but the parish will own it.

This project has been on the books for years. A consultant contract posted by DOTD lists its design period as 2018 through an estimated 2026. The regional transportation plan maintained by the Regional Planning Commission describes it as a 1.07-mile relocation and four-laning of LA 3154 between LA 48 and Mounes.

The cost estimates have come down at each stage, and the bid came in lower still:

On DOTD's Oct. 21 letting results, the job appears as project H.004359.6, "Hickory, LA 48 to Mounes." The low bid came in about $4.48 million, or roughly 26 percent, under the department's own estimate. The listed scope covers clearing and grubbing, grading, drainage structures, Portland cement concrete pavement and traffic signalization. In other words, this is a new concrete road with signals where it meets the existing grid.

November 20 is the date that matters to the corridor first

Before any of that concrete goes down, DOTD has a request for the people who live and own property along the future route between Jefferson Highway and Mounes Street. Its announcement reads:

"The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) is requesting that residents and property owners along the future LA 3154/Hickory Avenue corridor between LA 48/Jefferson Highway and Mounes Street remove personal property, materials, and other items located within the DOTD right-of-way by November 20, 2026."

That deadline falls eight days after this post goes up. DOTD says it has already acquired the right-of-way and has been relocating utilities. After Nov. 20, the department will review the corridor and handle any items left in the right-of-way under its own procedures. It also says construction begins after the letting, the contract award and other pre-construction steps, and that it will announce traffic impacts as the project moves forward. If you have property along that stretch, the DOTD announcement is the document to read, and the agency is the one to call with questions about where its line falls.

Today's Hickory has seen state money recently, too. In April 2025, DOTD announced a $750,000 asphalt overlay of LA 3154/Hickory Avenue between 9th Street and Jefferson Highway. That stretch is on its way to becoming a parish street.

One address on 10th Street now does three jobs

The second relabeling is easier to see in person. The Park of Heroes sits at 6601 10th Street, inside the larger Soniat Park grounds. According to its history page, the memorial honors 16 Harahan men killed in conflicts around the world since the city was founded in 1920. Seven of them never returned to the United States, and nine were brought home.

Since the Oct. 15 ribbon cutting, that same ground has also held Harahan's newest playground. In its groundbreaking announcement, the city describes a fenced space of nearly 9,000 square feet, built for more than 136 users at once, with synthetic turf so wheelchairs and walkers can reach the popular features. The equipment list includes:

• An 8-foot Mighty Descent slide
• "The Memo," a seven-pillar touchscreen learning feature
• A tank-themed climber, a nod to the memorial it shares ground with
• A wheelchair-accessible spinner and an accessible see-saw
• Sensory cocoons and an Aeroglider
• A six-seat swing with two accessible seats
• Ramps between play decks, an open play area and a shaded gathering pavilion

The third job comes on Nov. 28. The city's holiday market is listed at "Harahan Playground, 6601 10th St.," which is the same address. So the first big public gathering after the ribbon cutting will happen right next to the new equipment.

State money, local in-kind work and years of handoffs

The playground came together much the way the road did, over several years, with state appropriations as part of the funding. NOLA.com reported that the project was expected to cost $700,000, paid for with state appropriations and private donations. That included $200,000 dedicated in the state budget, of which $10,000 went to security cameras. The city also credits in-kind contributions from Chatelain Services, Wood Resources and the Harahan Athletic Association. The equipment and installation were purchased through a state purchasing contract.

In its opening announcement, the city traces the idea back to seed funding from Walmart through the No Limit Playground initiative. The Harahan Athletic Association and Councilman Eric Chatelain carried the effort forward, and Councilman Jason Asbill worked with Mayor Tim Baudier, State Rep. John Ilg and State Sen. Kirk Talbot to finish it. The city also thanks its Maintenance Department, Pelican Playgrounds, Lappset Group and Playworld.

Park of Heroes follows another recent city playground project. Royland Playground at 800 Randolph Avenue went through a community build that added a wide slide and climbing tower, a preschool playhouse, an interactive Sona arch, turf, a wheelchair-accessible spin station and a fitness station. When the city announced the Park of Heroes ribbon cutting, it pointed to Royland as the momentum this project was building on.

The holiday calendar runs through 10th Street and Jefferson Highway

Put the season's confirmed dates side by side and the map from the first two sections shows up again. The markets sit on 10th Street and along Jefferson Highway, and the parade runs down Jefferson Highway, the road the new Hickory will connect to.

St. Matthew the Apostle's market opens the stretch a week before Thanksgiving. The city's Holiday Market Craft Show follows on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, with handcrafted gifts, holiday and everyday decor, wooden decor, jewelry, cookies, cakes and breads. The city says cash is preferred, though many vendors also take Venmo or cards. Two raffles run all day, and tickets cost $1 each or six for $5. In the 50/50 raffle, half the pot goes to the winner and half goes to Harahan Playground, so a few dollars spent at the market go back to the grounds the stalls are set up on. The second raffle, the Parade of Prizes, pulls one item from each vendor.

The Christmas parade is run by the Harahan Police Department under Chief Edward V. Lepre. According to the department's 2026 entry form, lineup starts at 10 a.m. at Jefferson Highway and Hord Street, and the parade steps off at noon. It follows the traditional route west on Jefferson Highway and disbands after turning onto Folse Avenue. Organizations that want a float, truck, band, dance group or other entry have to return the form by Monday, Nov. 30, at 4:30 p.m., with vehicle insurance and driver's license information attached. Incomplete entries won't be placed in the lineup.

That puts the season on a tight schedule. DOTD's right-of-way deadline is Nov. 20, St. Matthew's market is Nov. 21, the 10th Street market is Nov. 28, parade entries close Nov. 30 and the parade rolls on Dec. 12.

If the new road has you thinking about what your home on or near Hickory is worth, Burk Brokerage Real Estate can walk you through it block by block, using our construction background and decades of Harahan and River Ridge sales. Get a Free Home Valuation, and we'll show you how the comparable sales nearby line up for your house today.