Baton Rouge Transportation

[dan326]

On 7/25/2022 at 3:35 PM, richyb83 said:

The 3 current proposed New Bridge locations will be useless with out an I-10 WBR / I-10 Ascension Connector " Southern By =Pass"! The giddy  Ourso from Iberville needs to realize this. Hwy 30 must be upgraded and 2nd (new) Intracoastal Bridge  form Hwy   415 extension will be needed .....  ad naseum

The fact that Old Hammon Hwy will only be widened from O'Neal Lane to Millerville Road to Flannery Rd (Roundabout) is perplexing.   The stretch btwn Blvd DeProvince to Flannery (west) will remain JUST TWO LANES bec of the Jones Creek & Lively Bayou bridges...

Smh, so basically they said it was too much work so we'll just forget that part.  That's the part that usually the most congested.

[cajun]

Interesting - if we can get some commuters off I-10, traffic would flow much better in the region.   

Quote

 

Baton Rouge's bridge problem isn't big trucks and travelers; it's local drivers, study says

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_0881ccfc-2818-5abf-80ea-8220e1f74711.html

A new bridge across the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge would mostly benefit local motorists because they make up more than 80% of traffic on the Interstate 10 bridge today, consultants told a state panel Monday.

 

Officials said it means the new structure, which will cost up to $3 billion, amounts to a local bridge crossing.

"That is almost unbelievable that it is 80% local traffic," said Fred Raiford, director of transportation and drainage for East Baton Rouge Parish and a member of the Capital Area Road and Bridge District, which is leading the hunt for a new bridge.

"It is a little eye-opening," Raiford said.

Kara Moree, project manager for Atlas Technical Consultants, which is advising the state, said she would have guessed that bridge traffic was made up of about 50% motorists passing through Baton Rouge.

"It was very surprising to me," Moree said. "We use I-10 as a surface street."

Moree also said big trucks make up only 15% of traffic crossing the bridge today. She said that, like the dominance of local traffic using the bridge, she would have guessed that big trucks would comprise a much larger percentage of daily bridge traffic.

Moree said the new structure would be used by about 24,000 motorists daily. About 126,000 cars and trucks each day cross the I-10 bridge now.

The state has identified three possible sites for a new crossing. All three are in Iberville Parish, just south of Plaquemine on the west side and St. Gabriel on the east.

The aim is to settle on one in 2024.

The current structure, formally known as the Horace Wilkinson Bridge, is a longtime sore spot for both eastbound and westbound travelers, especially during morning and evening commutes.

 

Cross-country travelers have long complained that it is the lone spot on I-10 between Santa Monica, Calif. and Jacksonville, Florida, where an interstate narrows to one lane — just east of the bridge.

But the study by Atlas showed that only 18% of eastbound motorists are passing through the Baton Rouge metro area, and roughly evenly divided between morning and evening rush hours.

 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by cajun

[cajun]

On 7/25/2022 at 3:35 PM, richyb83 said:

 

The fact that Old Hammon Hwy will only be widened from O'Neal Lane to Millerville Road to Flannery Rd (Roundabout) is perplexing.   The stretch btwn Blvd DeProvince to Flannery (west) will remain JUST TWO LANES bec of the Jones Creek & Lively Bayou bridges...

 

 

Wait....I missed this.   Widening of Old Hammond is part of the MoveBR project list, so it's codified into law and funded.   Like everything with the Broom admin, progress is slow if it happens at all....but I don't think they can just "forget" about this without the voters changing the law.   

It's still listed on the city's website.    Did they change something???

https://movebr.brla.gov/form/old-hammond-hwy-seg-1-phase-c-project-page

https://movebr.brla.gov/form/old-hammond-hwy-seg-1-phases-a-b

Edited September 27, 2022 by cajun

[KJHburg]

Speaking of traffic someone in downtown BR honked at me while I was making a left turn but I was waiting for some pedestrians to cross!  the merge of I-10 and I-110 is a hot mess coming off the bridge  and exit only lanes.  

[richyb83]

Good question Cajun!    i sure hope so but not holding my breath. Will need to delve into this further.  Thanks for those graphics /plans do look nice; not sure if the two bridges are what is in question?  Maybe 4 laning those (with a median?) is too costly?

THANKS for the photo tour KJH ...it never disappoints! hope you enjoyed yourself! 

[cajun]

I've noticed that every single overhead light on US-190 between Plank and the Mississippi River Bridge is not operable  -  including the ones mounted up very high on the stack interchange with I-110.    

How do you report those?   It's kind of a safety issue with all of those on ramps around there.    

[dan326]

On 11/14/2022 at 1:48 PM, cajun said:

I've noticed that every single overhead light on US-190 between Plank and the Mississippi River Bridge is not operable  -  including the ones mounted up very high on the stack interchange with I-110.    

How do you report those?   It's kind of a safety issue with all of those on ramps around there.    

Good question, it also seems like stop lights are slowly going out downtown....

[richyb83]

Good question. I'd call 311 then work from there.  Recently had to call about street light  going out in the neighborhood. Not sure that also applies to highways as well?

Even before the construction the 10/12 Split Lights were out plenty in the past. Eerie dark and was not all that safe either. Esp w cars changing lanes last second!

[cajun]

20 hours ago, richyb83 said:

Good question. I'd call 311 then work from there.  Recently had to call about street light  going out in the neighborhood. Not sure that also applies to highways as well?

Even before the construction the 10/12 Split Lights were out plenty in the past. Eerie dark and was not all that safe either. Esp w cars changing lanes last second!

So I dug a little more.   

I called about a cluster of lights and they told me to contact Entergy, which is unfortunate because Entergy is a horribly unresponsive and poorly run organization (worse than local government).   

But they have a web portal that you can use, and I encourage you to put these requests in:   https://www.myentergy.com/s/reportoutage   Problem here is that they never email you with a request ID, so I have no idea if the requests I put in are really in their system or if they are being looked into.    And there's no apparent way to follow up with them.

I encourage y'all to submit requests for lights when you see them.   But note that you have to specify an individual light.

Edited November 17, 2022 by cajun

[richyb83]

A couple years ago they did an excellent job fixing a Traffic light that's timing needed adjustment at Old Hammond Hwy/No Herrel's Ferry after i called them.

Been quite the project raising up the R.R. elevation (Overpass) above  Acadian Thruway to flatten out the  Underpass so it will not flood during heavy rains.

Acadian Thruway closing back-to-back weekends for late-night roadwork

Workers will block off the Acadian Thruway underpass between I-10 and Perkins Road over the next two weekends while crews replace the railroad bridge overhanging the highway. 

DOTD says the underpass will be closed off Jan. 7-8 and Jan. 14-15 amid work to elevate the railroad. The closures will happen between 12 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. each day.

The work will also cause rolling closures on S. Eugene Drive, Valley Street and Perkins Road that is anticipated to be approximately two hours on each street.

The bridge's wood pilings are being removed to accommodate more traffic and trucks since the Perkins Road exit is eventually being removed. The plan is to raise the railroad about four feet.

DOTD also plans to widen Acadian to make room for the additional traffic flow and to elevate the road by about a foot at the underpass, which is often flooded during heavy rain. That part of the project won't happen until 2025, however. 

https://www.wbrz.com/news/acadian-thruway-closing-back-to-back-weekends-for-late-night-roadwork

 

[richyb83]

Working from home hasn't helped Baton Rouge traffic, stats show. Here's why.

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/working-from-home-hasnt-helped-baton-rouge-traffic-stats-show-heres-why/article_d895b074-af00-11ed-9e66-2bba8a08b37f.html#tncms-source=topstories-1

“The number of people working from home has increased quite a lot relative to 2019, but overall is still relatively small compared to other metros we often compare ourselves to like New Orleans and Birmingham,” said Jake Polansky, manager of economic and research policy at the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. “Because we have so few overall workers working from home, that’s why we think it hasn’t had a huge effect on traffic.”

[richyb83]

What’s the I-10 widening project’s timeline? How many lanes will be open? DOTD provides updates

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/louisiana-dotd-provides-report-on-i-10-widening-project/article_349eb556-739f-11ee-825b-8787a90e0b0d.html

[richyb83]

DOTD to begin widening I-10 at City Park Lake this month as expansion project moves into next phase

https://www.wbrz.com/news/dotd-to-begin-widening-i-10-at-city-park-lake-this-month-as-expansion-project-moves-into-next-phase

[richyb83]

Glad the Hwy 415 Connector will finally be built in WBR w new Intracoastal Waterway Bridge...but really disappointed this will not TIE into the NEW Mississippi River Bridge.

La. 415 connector near Baton Rouge gets federal loan, could start construction in 2026

https://www.nola.com/news/politics/la-415-connector-near-baton-rouge-gets-887-million-loan/article_fa32d2ee-9ba3-11ee-8a4d-fb1fbe14be05.html