What happens to a neutral ground that has always been grass and trees when the city decides it should hold water every day of the year? Gentilly has been finding out on Elysian Fields Avenue since May, when crews put up long runs of chain-link fence along several blocks near Filmore Avenue. NOLA.com reported that the fences were the first clue for at least one neighbor that major construction was coming.
The fences are temporary. The change behind them is permanent. When the City's Blue & Green Corridors Phase I is finished, the Elysian Fields neutral ground between Filmore Avenue and Allen Toussaint Boulevard won't go back to lawn. It will be an open waterway, the center of the avenue rebuilt as a place where water lives.
A neutral ground designed to stay wet
The plan is simpler than the construction makes it look. The City's April 21, 2026 community presentation says the Elysian Fields neutral ground "will be converted into an open waterway that stores stormwater during rain events." The goal is to take load off the drainage pumps.
The same presentation says that on sunny days the canal will keep "a low permanent water level" that circulates through smaller pumps. So the canal doesn't sit dry until a downpour fills it. Water will be part of the streetscape from Filmore to Allen Toussaint every day.
The capacity numbers show the scale. Phase I adds 9 million gallons of stormwater storage across about two miles, counting both Elysian Fields and the Allen Toussaint Boulevard segment between the London Avenue Canal and Franklin Avenue. Today, NOLA.com explains, a typical storm sends water into catch basins, then into pipes and underground canals, and pumps move it into the London Avenue Canal and out to Lake Pontchartrain. The corridor is meant to hold some of that water where it falls instead.
Why this stretch, and why now
The corridor has been on paper much longer than it has been in the ground. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the City $141 million in 2017 for a set of Gentilly projects. NOLA.com notes that Blue & Green Corridors was first expected to be finished by early 2022. It is the largest of the Gentilly Resilience District projects. NOLA.com puts the whole federally funded corridor project at $42 million, covering city-owned land bounded by the London Avenue Canal, Franklin Avenue, Allen Toussaint Boulevard and Filmore Avenue. The City's construction notices describe the Phase I work now underway as a $32.2 million project.
The City held a preconstruction meeting with the community on April 21, 2026, and issued the notice to proceed on May 18, 2026. The City's construction notices name Kort's Construction Services, Inc. as the contractor.
The trees came out first. According to NOLA.com, crews removed trees along the Elysian Fields neutral ground that were considered invasive or in poor condition to clear room for the stormwater ponds. The City's notices also list tree relocation, excavation and new underground drainage lines.
How the work has rerouted the avenue
The work stays mostly in the middle of the avenue. A July 17, 2026 letter to nearby businesses says the Elysian Fields work is in the neutral ground. On Allen Toussaint, between Franklin Avenue and the London Avenue Canal, the work runs curb to curb. Elysian Fields hasn't closed end to end. Instead, the crossovers through the neutral ground have closed in groups, and that changes how you cross the avenue, not just how you drive along it.
The City's summer traffic advisories laid out the sequence:
| Advisory | Closed neutral-ground crossovers | Detour streets named |
|---|---|---|
| June 29, 2026 | Mendez, Odin, Mithra | Prentiss Avenue, Filmore Avenue |
| July 2, 2026, from July 6 | Athis, Pressburg, Vienna, Madrid | Prentiss Avenue, Allen Toussaint Boulevard |
The work began at the Prentiss Avenue end. The first notice set mobilization at Prentiss and Elysian Fields for June 1 through June 12, with parking restrictions and vehicle removal. It also promised separate notice before any driveway access was affected. On Allen Toussaint, an August 10 notice scheduled median excavation from around Warrington Drive to Franklin Avenue for August 12 through 31, with each day's digging backfilled before crews left.
The City's notices also cover a few household details:
- Cars parked in signed no-parking zones can be ticketed and towed.
- USPS delivery and sanitation and recycling pickup continue, though bins may need to go to an accessible corner.
- Planned water outages get a hand-delivered notice at least four days ahead.
- If debris or materials block a driveway, the City asks residents to tell project staff.
The notices themselves say residents get a new one every thirty days before the next phase of work. The City keeps current advisories on the Blue & Green Corridors project page, and that page is the place to check before planning a route across the avenue. Project questions go to [email protected].
What the finished neutral ground is supposed to hold
The water is only part of the design. The plan pairs the canal with native and local plantings, new benches, and fitness and play areas. Along the two-mile corridor it adds signalized pedestrian crossings, ADA-accessible curb ramps, and bikeway and walkway connections. Allen Toussaint gets 71 green-infrastructure garden bump-outs, extended curbs at intersections that catch street water before it reaches the catch basins.
Put those together and the neutral ground has a new job. Today it's a median you drive around. The plan makes it a public space with water, seating, places to exercise and safer crossings. City Councilmember Eugene Green, who represents the area, put it this way to NOLA.com:
"This is going to be a model project relative to living with water. It's not just the canal, it's something that will be attractive to the community."
Two restaurants that opened beside the fences
Some businesses on the avenue didn't wait for the canal to fill. Good Time Sushi, which Where Y'at calls a Gentilly favorite, closed during the pandemic. It has now reopened as Good Time Sushi & Hibachi in a brand-new building on its old site at 5315 Elysian Fields Ave. The new building replaces what the magazine called the "shed-like" structure, doubles the space, and brings back the rolls and hibachi lunch specials.
A few addresses down, J's Bayou Seafood opened its second location at 5242 Elysian Fields Ave. Axios New Orleans included it in its July 2026 roundup of the year's openings as a West Bank favorite expanding into Gentilly. The restaurant lists daily hours of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Both openings landed in the same year the corridor broke ground. Construction stays in the neutral ground, and the City's July letter, after reviewing 29 nearby businesses, expected little disruption beyond scheduled water outages. So the storefronts along the avenue are open and serving now, while the middle of the avenue is being rebuilt.
The finish line, and the garden that opens first
When the canal will be done depends on which City document you read. The April community presentation gives a two-year schedule running to Summer 2028. The traffic advisory says Winter 2028, weather permitting, and the business letter says late 2028. NOLA.com reported that City officials expected the first phase to be finished "by next winter." The City's own documents all point to 2028.
The water garden on Mirabeau Avenue should arrive much sooner. The Mirabeau Water Garden is a 25-acre site on Mirabeau Avenue between Bayou St. John and the London Avenue Canal, and it broke ground on December 11, 2023. NOLA.com describes the $31 million project as a natural wetland filtration system with lagoons and walking trails. The City's Mirabeau project page, last updated September 29, 2026, lists Phase I as "Coming Soon (December 2026)." That would be weeks after this post runs, if the date holds.
The Elysian Fields canal between Filmore and Allen Toussaint follows on the City's 2028 schedule.
If you own a home near the new Elysian Fields waterway and want to understand how a project like this affects the way a house is presented and valued over the coming years, Elizabeth McNulty would be glad to talk it through. Request a Private Consultation.
