Green Light Plan

[buckett5425]

I think what Buckett is saying is that he'd rather see amusement parks funded by the city while public streets should clearly be built with private dollars.....At least that is what I think he's implying.

It's about time they get this road opened.

I'd say this delay is what we get with low taxes and homestead exemption Commercial growth and difficulty keeping up with the infrastructure.

Really Cajun?

I was implying that this city has a completely introverted design strategy. Our city was so desperate for new development and tax dollars, that for the past 50 years, there was no since of a "bigger picture." If someone wanted to building something, it was built as they wanted it, with no concern of how it was going to effect anything around it. Many "progressive cities", such as Portland, realized this was an issue. As soon as suburban sprawl started to occur, they regulated the developments from the beginning to help curb the issue and did so with much success. However, in this city, the developer was more important, and the city would do w/e it could to just provide services.

Only recently over the past 10 years has BR started to change, and it began with the Horizon Plan. But even then, the change has been minor, and they are willing to make exceptions for the benefit of the developer, and not the bigger picture. Now, we are stuck trying to put the pieces back together with projects like this.

The single family house and automobile, in and of itself are very introverted and based on the individual. When you leave your house, you get in your car, and like a pod, you arrive at your destination with no concern of what has taken place between points A and B. You just make sure that point A and B is nice, while everything in between during your journey doesn't matter. That idea is really about the individual and their freedoms. Cities that are more progressive work past those ideas where a sense of community is very important and people have to step outside of their "pod." In cities such as that, public improvement plans pass, because people have a sense of community, and care more what happens at more than just point A and B.When you care about what happens outside of your home, the community is a better place. This is why i despise the Tea Party Movement because they care only about there homes and pocket books with no sense of what is best for the community. Living so introverted is just a sad way to live. Which cajun, from everything you've said, is the way you prefer things.

Sorry cajun, I suppose my socialist philosophies, where the city and community are more important then ONE developer(individual) are just to radical for you??

[cajun]

Really Cajun?

I was implying that this city has a completely introverted design strategy. Our city was so desperate for new development and tax dollars, that for the past 50 years, there was no since of a "bigger picture." If someone wanted to building something, it was built as they wanted it, with no concern of how it was going to effect anything around it. Many "progressive cities", such as Portland, realized this was an issue. As soon as suburban sprawl started to occur, they regulated the developments from the beginning to help curb the issue and did so with much success. However, in this city, the developer was more important, and the city would do w/e it could to just provide services.

Only recently over the past 10 years has BR started to change, and it began with the Horizon Plan. But even then, the change has been minor, and they are willing to make exceptions for the benefit of the developer, and not the bigger picture. Now, we are stuck trying to put the pieces back together with projects like this.

I knew that I could elicit a response!

I used to think just like you....then I had kids and everything changed.

Baton Rouge's Horizon plan blows because no one follows it. Even the most liberal voters here support a more business-centric government without an understanding that being pro-business doesn't mean we have to put up with the side affects. That being said, I don't think the responsibility of this particular project should be placed on private developers any more than it should be placed on the taxpayers for not demanding more.

It's as if lately, the few liberals in EBR got mean and loud (and they don't care about issues like this anyways), the nutty conservatives moved away, and the younger neo-con/leftist moderates are taking over- voters seem more apathetic today than they were 5 years ago. All people really complain about in this town is the traffic and the litter....that's it. Public schools are only a problem if you send your kids there. Crime is only a problem if you live in certain areas. There is more public awareness about funding for interstate highways, LSU football, and new bars on 3rd street than there is about anything else here.

Baton Rouge voters seem to be able to identify one widespread problem, but still seem unable to understand the big picture. Just south of I-10, there are at least a dozen "minor" projects like this that would have a massive impact on traffic flow (and don't involve widening every major street), but there is no public awareness about any of it. All we hear is "traffic sucks" or "they should widen Bluebonnet" or some other nonsense.

And the rest of your post was pretty absurd. Most housing in this city is single-family....there are neighborhoods with a cohesive grid pattern. Your comments regarding my living arrangements or preference is absurd...if I'm not mistaken, we live in the same poorly planned part of town. I don't see how my lifestyle suddenly makes me introverted....and even if it did, then it's my business and is of no concern to anyone else.

Baton Rouge, and this whole state, has a major complex being so close to Houston and so tied (economically) with Atlanta. The idea that "bigger is better" seems to be the prevailing thought. The most flashy developments, tallest buildings, and most wasteful public spending are the only issues that we pay attention to. I wish this town would focus more on the little details, like separate ISDs, more police protection, cleaning the garbage from the streets, and interconnecting various parts of the city. They would have a negligible costs to taxpayers, and go a long way towards making this city a better place.

[buckett5425]

I knew that I could elicit a response!

I used to think just like you....then I had kids and everything changed.

Baton Rouge's Horizon plan blows because no one follows it. Even the most liberal voters here support a more business-centric government without an understanding that being pro-business doesn't mean we have to put up with the side affects. That being said, I don't think the responsibility of this particular project should be placed on private developers any more than it should be placed on the taxpayers for not demanding more.

Baton Rouge voters seem to be able to identify one widespread problem, but still seem unable to understand the big picture. Just south of I-10, there are at least a dozen "minor" projects like this that would have a massive impact on traffic flow (and don't involve widening every major street), but there is no public awareness about any of it. All we hear is "traffic sucks" or "they should widen Bluebonnet" or some other nonsense.

And the rest of your post was pretty absurd. Most housing in this city is single-family....there are neighborhoods with a cohesive grid pattern. Your comments regarding my living arrangements or preference is absurd...if I'm not mistaken, we live in the same poorly planned part of town. I don't see how my lifestyle suddenly makes me introverted....and even if it did, then it's my business and is of no concern to anyone else.

I agree 100% with the beginning of your post. But to call the rest of my opinion is absurd, is fecious. I would search for it, but im afraid it would take to much time, but i know i can quote you word for word on how your opinion reflects my statement about preferring an introverted lifestyle. Just because you have a family, doesnt mean you should disregard what happens outside of the walls of your home.

If you prefer to live that way, that is your business. I am simply saying i would rather encourage people otherwise, and one way to do that is by promoting multifamily residential. The same way the FHA only insured mortgages for single family housing in the 30's and discriminated against multifamily, we can start doing now to encourage denser development.

Single family housing in and of itself is introverted, which can negatively impact a community and its culture. Also, most of the residential developments built over the past 50 years might have a cohesive grid pattern, but its only within its own subdivision, and has little connectivity to anything around it other then ONE major highway. Which is really the point i was trying to make earlier. Developers built within their own property, with a disregard of what was next door. Now we have all of these dead-end streets, with a reliance on over congested arteries, its a planners nightmare, and Baton Rougians let it happen.

I know you try and have a "common sense" approach to most of these issues. Yet its going to take more radical action to see real positive change implemented.

[cajun]

Maybe I'm the last person on this forum to see this....but I found this while looking up permit information this weekend.

The street grid layout for Baton Rouge's master plan. Lots of small to moderate sized projects on here that are not reflected with the Green Light bond package passed several years ago.

http://brgov.com/dep...rstreetplan.pdf

I believe the streets highlighted in yellow are completely new (where Right of way is required)- most of which seem to be creating connector points where there is currently none, some seem to be roads to nowhere. They also seem to be sensitive to the three main secondary and post secondary education centers's campus master plans.

There are also roads, such as Lee Drive, that are marked for an expansion of right of way...which I thought was squashed years ago. Hopefully this issue comes up again in the future....if there was a place in BR where expropriation and demolition were unfortunate, but required, it's Lee Drive. I'm guessing that this is why newer developments mandate right of ways that are so large (such as Sherwood or newer parts of Goodwood).

Also in here are streets (both local and state funded) that are recommended for widneing that is also not on the Green Light Plan. I'm hoping the city won't have to pick up the tab for those completely like it did for several other state roads in Baton Rouge and Central. Other parishes (ahem...Orleans...Jefferson...) don't seem to have the same problem that EBR has.

If there's an easier to read master plan presentation that's been updated in the last decade, I don't know where it is. That website has most of the info, but it's easy to see why there's little interest in the subject.

I'm wondering how they will justify a Burbank/Siegen/Nicholson connector or the Kenelworth Extension out to River Road to voters. At least they are planning way, way ahead for some things. There's more common sense projects in there, such as extending S mall drive to Pecue lane, or a new MidWay blvd in the Summa/Essen area.

It would be sweet if any of us on here knew a traffic enginner or planning expert to provide proffesional opinions for us. It seems like most of us want the same thing out of Baton Rouge for the most part....I'm sure that if we could get educated opinions behind us, we might be able to push change actual change. With Baton Rouge's increasing political power in the legislature, some of this should be able to happen without raising taxes.

I agree 100% with the beginning of your post. But to call the rest of my opinion is absurd, is fecious.

It's almost like you know me

[buckett5425]

Very interesting map.

According to the map, the lanes for the improved lee drive will be 3, with a right of way of 80'. I take that to mean they will basically keep one lane in each direction and add a turning lane. I can see them doing that with little resistance.

Also, notice how Kenilworth parkway does not connect with the new South Kenilworth parkway. WTF????? Currently, there is an OLD church at that connecting point between burbank and highland. Right now its serving as a privately owned gift shop. In my book that means it needs to be bulldozed so that we can actually make this grid work!

I am excited to see the 5 laneing of river road.

Does anyone know a timescale(decades im sure) for these projects, or where the funds will be coming from?

[cajun]

Very interesting map.

According to the map, the lanes for the improved lee drive will be 3, with a right of way of 80'. I take that to mean they will basically keep one lane in each direction and add a turning lane. I can see them doing that with little resistance.

Also, notice how Kenilworth parkway does not connect with the new South Kenilworth parkway. WTF????? Currently, there is an OLD church at that connecting point between burbank and highland. Right now its serving as a privately owned gift shop. In my book that means it needs to be bulldozed so that we can actually make this grid work!

I am excited to see the 5 laneing of river road.

Does anyone know a timescale(decades im sure) for these projects, or where the funds will be coming from?

80' of right of way.....a three lane road typically consist of two 12' directional lanes, a 14' center turn lane, one foot on either side for curb and gutter, and a 5' sidewalk....so approximately 50' of that 80 would be for the street and sidewalks. I'm assuming that they'd bury the power and phone lines, replace the sewer and water, and install sub-surface drainage. Of course, that's assuming a 3 lane road with no parallel parking spaces and no median.

I suppose it depends....would you rather lose part of your front yard (assuming they don't have enough right of way now already), or would you rather someone buy you out at market value? A lot of those homes can be saved and moved -and expropriating either one side or both would yield in a lot more space for a green area, wide sidewalks, bike trail, wide median, or even some sort of belt-park like what they did with Camellia blvd in Lafayette, but would sort of divide the area up a little....bu tit would turn Lee drive from a choke-point to a more desirable area.

Lee drive is so frustrating. Just an old school road, no sidewalks, and no shoulder or turn lanes.

As far is Kenilworth- they wanted to extend it to Burbank a few years ago but decided to create a connector at Woodgate or something instead because there's a graveyard behind that old Church.

If they knew where the funding was to put all of this in place...I'd be surprised.

<div><br></div><div>Also said that they wanted to widen Airline to 6 lanes from Plank all the way to Prarieville. &nbsp;Glad they are at least thinking about it.</div>

[nquint1]

I'm all for buying up all of the houses on one side of Lee Dr and creating a really nice boulevard like Bluebonnet between Jefferson and I10. Otherwise you'll get what's happening at the corner of Perkins and Acadian. That house should have been moved somewhere else.

I'm glad to see they want to connect Thomas Delpit to Dalrymple. I'm sure that won't go over well but it needs to be done.

I don't see why they don't have Parker Blvd extended to Nicholson.

[byrde]

I like a lot of what I see in that map, but I'm not sure how realistic some of the things are. In looking at some of the N. BR areas, they have Ardenwood connecting to Brookstown. That make sense, but there currently is a golf course and an elementary school sitting there. Don't see The local school system giving up that.

[richyb83]

Yes indeed! Interesting map....Been awhile since I've seen it with a few new updates...Where do I begin??? Yall hit on some good ones...

>Extending Tom Drive across Lobdell to Capitol Middle would be good; avoid the crazy Choctaw/Greenwell Springs/Lobdell intersection...

>Connecting Pecue(with new I-10 interchange) w/ Stumberg good idea...can't see extending Stumberg tearing right thru Episcopal School to Harrel's Ferry Rd/ it would be ideal to curve thru Forest Park and connect to Millerville Rd.

>Dalrymple to Parker...will that really happen??

>Siegen should have hooked into Nicholson with Bluebonnet running to Siegen...

>Central Thruway...BIGGEST project in recent memory!! Vital connection to I-12...Central (pop.27,000) to Shenandoah (approx. 23,000) and in between; etc...

>So Kenilworth Pkwy looks like it takes a similar path to the future South By-pass where the bridge would end up over toward Brusly/Addis in WBR...

>Would northern extension of Kenilworth be a wise decision to hook it around OLOL up so close to I-10 & Essen Lane??

Connecting Bluebonnet to Coursey/ Oak Villa to Joor/ and Corporate Blvd to Old Hammond Hwy were the BEST connections so far!!

Good to see this finally happened today! The new street signs look nice too

Ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for downtown signalization

A ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the completion of downtown signalization and synchronization is slated for 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the corner of North 3rd and Main streets. The ninth completed roadway construction project for the Green Light Plan, the project broke ground in June of 2008. This will upgrade traffic signals and communications at 27 intersections in downtown Baton Rouge.

http://www.businessreport.com/archives/daily-report/2009/dec/08/1355/

[buckett5425]

Downtown synchronization is a joke. I know of no one who can get from one side of downtown to the next without having to stop. They only synchronized the lights going east-west, not north-south. Its a pain in the ...

[richyb83]

^Sorry to hear that...matches the rest of the synchronization around BR that is a joke too.

Midway Blvd (not sure why it would be called that/not supposed to be 4-lane) should start when/if LSU's new hospital get's off the ground at the large vacant I-10/Essen tract of land.

Can't wait for the Perkins/Picardy connector to get started; it's a shifted slightly to the east of this map; should really help traffic on Bluebonnet...

Lee Drive is frustrating; something needs to be done.

[nquint1]

Downtown synchronization is a joke. I know of no one who can get from one side of downtown to the next without having to stop. They only synchronized the lights going east-west, not north-south. Its a pain in the ...

Driving around downtown, I can't tell that any synchronization was done.

[cajun]

Driving around downtown, I can't tell that any synchronization was done.

I'll have to see. I thought this was just the completion of the new light installation...but if they are finished with the synchronization, then they need to make some pretty serious adjustments.

It does seem to back up on Nicholson at Government and at South Blvd much more than it used to.

On the bright side, I did notice the new crosswalks that actually seem to work.

[nquint1]

They definitely give priority to South Blvd over all the other streets that intersect it. It doesn't take much to know that isn't right.

[richyb83]

Lobdell Green Light project complete

City-parish officials will hold a ribbon cutting Thursday morning to mark the completion of the Lobdell Avenue improvements project. This is the 10th Green Light project to be finished. The $4.1 million project involved adding a lane, median and sidewalks to Lobdell, thereby improving access to Independence Park.

*from BusinessReport

[richyb83]

This massive project has plenty of bridges including the R.R. overpass...this easterrn-most north-south route of EBR Parish will help significantly; esp. after O'Neal Lane is finally widened...sure the residents of Central are grateful Mayor Holden made sure this a 4-laned thoroughfare instead of only 2 as was first planned...

Groundbreaking ceremony planned for bridges

Mayor-President Kip Holden plans to hold a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for construction of the final two bridges over Beaver Bayou required for the Central Thruway project. The ceremony is to be held at 9:30 a.m. in a right-of-way next to Fellowship Baptist Church, 14512 Greenwell Springs Road, Holden’s office announced in a press release.

The bridges — to be built at a cost of $7.8 million — are part of the Green Light Plan to ease traffic congestion in East Baton Rouge Parish.

The project is being funded with American Reinvestment and Recovery Act dollars obtained through the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, officials said. The work is being done by Gilchrist Construction Co. and is to be completed in August 2011.

Once remaining segments of the Central Thruway Phase II project are complete, a new four-lane roadway with a raised median and shoulders will extend from Frenchtown Road to Sullivan Road, officials said. The Central Thruway project eventually will combine with other road projects to provide an improved north-south connection extending from Nicholson Drive to Hooper Road, officials said.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/88950462.html

[cajun]

Awesome! I wonder if they will be able to finish more green light projects later on since the federal stimulus picked up some of the tab here. If I'm not mistaken, there were several projects listed that were "maybes" and depended on how much tax revenue was available and the overall cost of the projects already completed....

[nquint1]

I've been wondering how much the down economy is affecting the GLP in general. The good news is I remember hearing awhile back that bids were coming in under budget. I wonder if they update the website after every fiscal year to reflect the actual tax collections/construction prices.

[cajun]

I've been wondering how much the down economy is affecting the GLP in general. The good news is I remember hearing awhile back that bids were coming in under budget. I wonder if they update the website after every fiscal year to reflect the actual tax collections/construction prices.

I can't wait for them to get started with Nicholson and that strange intersection with Brightside. It's long past due.

But I double checked on the initial ballot initiative. There are several projects listed that are proposed, but not set in stone, that would be started. Which ones would depend on how much is left obviously....most are "looking forward" projects that don't address needs that the city has now, but anticipate needs of the future.

I'm curious as to when Jones Creek Road will get started (btw Tiger Bend and Coursey). It isn't part of the green light plan, instead it's on the state's project agenda- which is horribly backed up to the point where several green light projects are actually state roads that are horribly behind the times.

[cajun]

This isn't a Green Light Plan, but it is a wishlist or alternative surface street enhancements in lieu of a bypass.

Some of these ideas don't suck.

I recommend adding three projects to this wish list:

-widening Airline btw. Plank Road and Florida (to at least 6 lanes with a wide median)

- extending Burbank to Ascension Parish

-Timing the lights and enhancing/widening Choctaw btw Greenwell Springs and I-110 to make it a more attractive and efficient commuter corridor.

Parishes look to loop options

Livingston, Ascension pitch plans

By DAVID J. MITCHELL AND BOB ANDERSON

Full Article: http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/92030929.html?showAll=y&c=y

Livingston and Ascension Parish officials opposed to the Baton Rouge loop project want to explore alternatives they say would improve traffic flow sooner and disrupt fewer people than a proposed beltway.The projects include routing highway traffic around Baton Rouge, building a new link between Ascension and Livingston parishes and adding east-west lanes to improve existing links between the two parishes and East Baton Rouge Parish.

However, East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden said Saturday the projects wouldn’t have the impact on traffic or the economy that building a highway loop would have.

He said the proposed projects couldn’t be started more quickly than the 85-mile loop.

“There is not another project out there that is going to impact traffic as much as a loop,” Holden said. “There is nothing they can offer that can get started any quicker.”

Ascension and Livingston parish legislators and local officials said their alternatives would create ways for area traffic to move more freely without using already overburdened interstate highways that, one legislator said, are clogged with local traffic.

Among the projects that they said they would like to explore are the following:

• Building a 5-mile toll highway linking northern Ascension and southern Livingston parishes from La. 42 at La. 44 to South Walker Road, a project that Livingston Parish President Mike Grimmer said would alleviate a commuter choke point in Port Vincent.
• Constructing a 40- to 50-mile expressway on the Mississippi River’s west bank that would route Houston-to-New Orleans traffic around Baton Rouge. Officials said the project has large sections of rights of-way in place and support from area legislators.
• Widening Florida Boulevard in East Baton Rouge Parish from four to six lanes to tie in with two new bridges the state is building over the Amite River at U.S. 190.
• Widening U.S. 190 from two to four lanes from Denham Springs to Hammond.
• Adding two lanes to the four-lane Airline Highway from Coursey Boulevard in Baton Rouge to Gonzales, a stretch where officials said right-of-way is in place.
• Building new bridges across the Amite River at Hooper and South Harrells Ferry roads between East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes. Grimmer said that “the Hooper Road extension is a key to helping” the northern part of Livingston Parish.
• Considering a double-deck concept for Interstate 12 that state Sen. Dale Erdey, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works, said might be cheaper than the $4.5 billion loop.
• Continuing expansion of I-12 to six lanes to Walker and — more long-term — widening I-10 from Highland Road to Sorrento, which could cost up to $150 million.
• Instituting a future Ascension Parish road improvement plan that would be paid for with a new voter-approved, half-cent sales tax.

Many, though not all, of these and other projects are in the idea stage, parish and state Department of Transportation and Development officials said.

Holden said the new projects being proposed don’t have funding, and Livingston and Ascension parish officials are wrong if they think state legislators will “let them have a field day” with available road funds.

“They are in the pie-in-the sky mode,” Holden said of officials proposing alternatives. “We are in the reality mode.”

The state has a $12.5 billion state road backlog that includes $5.8 billion in capacity projects. Bridges cost $5 million to $10 million per mile in rural areas and $20 million to $30 million in urban areas, DOTD officials said.

Grimmer conceded that some projects being proposed might be more difficult to fund than the loop, which would be paid for by a toll.

But Ascension Parish President Tommy Martinez said the alternatives are more likely to have an impact sooner on traffic congestion and on the economy than the loop.

“We’re going to do a lot more because there was never going to be a loop,” Martinez said in an e-mailed statement.

Grimmer wants the Metropolitan Planning Organization to move the U.S. 190 project into the top priority list. The area has been waiting years for that, he said, adding that he will act to have the project moved up at the next Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting.

Livingston Parish Sheriff Willie Graves, who hasn’t taken a position on the loop, said widening U.S. 190 would take a lot of the local traffic off of I-12.

Martinez also has proposed reinstituting tolls on the Sunshine and Gramercy Mississippi River bridges to help fund the west bank expressway.

Revenue from a 5-mile toll road could help widen La. 42 from La. 44 to Airline Highway and La. 44 between La. 42 and La. 621, Martinez said.

He said La. 42 is his No. 1 priority, but it could cost $50 million and lacks enough funding.

DOTD spokeswoman Jodi Conachen said the toll highway and tolls on the Mississippi River bridges would need legislative authority.

Martinez, Grimmer and Iberville Parish President Mitch Ourso, three of the five parish leaders on the authority overseeing that toll project, have announced they are resigning from the authority.

Conachen has said the resignations mean the Capital Area Expressway Authority cannot build the loop in the parishes where officials have resigned.

The Louisiana Transportation Authority, a separate statewide toll authority, could take up the project, but backers of the loop have not presented it to that authority, Conachen said.

DOTD is widening or has plans to widen to six lanes sections of I-10 and I-12, spending a total of $292.2 million in state surplus and federal stimulus.

Under those projects, I-10 would be widened to Highland Road and I-12 to Juban Road, DOTD spokesman Dustin Annison said.

But DOTD has focused on improving existing highways only in Baton Rouge and, due to funding, has no entirely new east-west routes planned such as those the loop would provide, he said.

Article continues at link above.

[richyb83]

If all this ever does happen...the BR region would be OK without the loop

[yis2003yis]

Holden said the new projects being proposed don’t have funding, and Livingston and Ascension parish officials are wrong if they think state legislators will “let them have a field day” with available road funds.

“They are in the pie-in-the sky mode,” Holden said of officials proposing alternatives. “We are in the reality mode.”

That is a Very True Statement

[cajun]

^^ As much as I agree with the above statement.....I'm still dissapointed that the reality is that it will probably be easier to address traffic with a huge, costly project with regional support than it would for smaller projects to improve traffic flow...even if the smaller projects are more affective and cheaper

I think this area is growing too rapidly to fight over different traffic mitigation projects.&nbsp; An "all of the above" approach is needed, including better street grid, new freeways, and public transit options.&nbsp; Baton Rouge is really the first sprawling (American style) city in the state that is experiencing staggering growth patterns.&nbsp; It's nothing like the development that took place in Jefferson parish in the mid 20th century....in both scale and style

I can't help but think that other cities with this problem...such as Houston, Phonenix, Birmingham, and Atlanta..are rolling out the construction crews and pushing light rail in addition to the auto-based transportation solutions. I hope the Baton Rouge region can get a good chunk of state dollars to help improve the regional highways over the next decade. The fact that Baton Rouge taxes itself to fund green light projects (where Ascension and Livingston don't) should be taken into account when it's time to spend state and federal DOTD money...assuming money exists.

"DOTD is focused only on improving roads in Baton Rouge".....well, Baton Rouge is also focused on improving state routes with city/parish money along with it's own routes through a local tax. I'd say the city is serious about traffic congestion and is thus, entitled to a bigger chunck of transportation money.

On that note, I'm starting to think that more big box retailers near the outskirts of the city has it's advantages: It collects sales tax revenue from suburban parishes. They put Bass Pro right on our back door, I think a mall at O'Neal lane is in order!

I still can't get over how difficult it is to move from the northern to southern part of the parish during the day. Airline highway btw Florida and Greenwell Springs is so stressful....and Sherwood/Siegen, Acadian, and Jefferson are already flirting with capacity traffic levels and certainly aren't equipped to handle any more. Choctaw and Acadian traffic signals are not poorly timed....they are timed perfectly to stop traffic at every intersection! I can't help but think how bad this is for retailers along this route....traffic counts are probably half what they could be with smarter traffic signals.

At least they are addressing O'Neal, Millerville, Jones Creek, Flannery, and Old Hammond, but I'm starting to think that by creating more capacity on South Harrell's Ferry, they will be creating even more bottlenecks on the streets that cross I-12 and Old Hammond.

I'm not sure they could possibly expand I-12 or I-10 enough to keep up with the growth in Ascension and Livingston either. When they are done with 12 widening out to Walker, it will be time to widen the Baton Rouge section to 8 lanes!&nbsp; Sprawl problems are enough to enduce a headache just by thinking about it.

In any case....back to "Baton Rouge" With regards&nbsp;to the&nbsp;first part of the Green Light projects....do you guys think that the plan goes far enough?&nbsp; Where does it fall short?

If you were mayor...or perhaps a state representative, what projects would you push in this region?

[richyb83]

I think the Green Light Program has been one of the better things to happen...eventhough much of this needed to be addressed 10 years ago...better late than ever we guess....I just question the "order" they have been selected?? WHY is So Harrell's Ferry being addressed INSTEAD of Old Hammond Hwy?? Old Hammond is nice til you hit Blvd deProvince...then the massive bottleneck! Why did they not complete this all the way thru?? When it "parallel's" between 2 MAJOR Hwy's...I-12 & Hwy 190...BR seems to have the east-west routes covered...now extending So Harrel's Ferry across the Amite River into south of Denham Springs may help I-12 a little...

North-south travel is more difficult...the fact that the "diagonal" NW/SE Airline Hwy breaks the grid...causing much of the headaches...The LSU Rural Life Plantation does not help much either...

I-12 should be 4-laned from Airline Hwy to O'Neal Lane...really all the way to Hammond/I-55...it could connect the 4-lanes along the Northshore

The Green Light projects are nice..but lack of right turn lanes still plague the traffic flow; esp with the hit-n-miss lights that are still not synchronized..

[cajun]

The loop has been a waste of time and money thus far. I know I've brought it up before, but I think we should have an honest discussion about that.

There is a way to accomplish the following:

-ease traffic INSIDE of Baton Rouge

-force hazardous material shipments out of the inner core of Baton Rouge (I'd go as far as saying to force all truck traffic out of the city)

-eliminate the need to widen 10 through Baton Rouge

-revitalize struggling areas of town

All this without having to knock down a single building or home, and it would costs far, far less than a loop. No costly new bridge crossings over the Amite or Mississippi....and no diverting traffic (and business) away from Baton Rouge.

I don't know why people aren't demanding this. The Airline Highway/LA 1 freeway with feeder roads would solve a lot of problems. It was noted a while back around Katrina, but it feel through in favor of a loop (mostly due to pressure from suburbs, who now don't want the loop). It doesn't even have to be elevated, and it is possible to build it without reducing current capacity during the construction process.

You'd essentially be doubling capacity of existing roads and eliminating traffic lights for thru-traffic. Unlike cutting through existing neighborhoods with an elevated freeway, this would actually help existing retail. Imagine twice the cars and trucks traveling that route on a road twice as large? You'd see a lot more fueling stations, truck stops, motels, and probably, more importantly, a revitalized Cortana Mall area, as this would become a major thruway for Central and Zachary commuters in addition to the residents of Baton Rouge who work in the northern/southern parts of the city. You could even go as far south as Ascension with it if necessary, but I don't think it will be for a long time. The key part is between Plank and 12 and the westbank along LA 1 (already has service roads in place, just needs overpasses).

Instead of having a large drainage swale on either side of Airline, you could have feeder roads with sidewalks, bringing traffic closer to the retailers....then constructors can take their time building overpasses in the newly created median (they can use the existing Airline/LA 1 pavement for most of the road). Just a few tricks from Texas.... The costs would come with the required subsurface drainage and utilities (which looks better anyways) and relocating the median to what is now ditches.....then creating overpasses and ramps over major intersections/rail crossings and building "loop arounds". It's that simple.