Baton Rouge Inner Loop

[richyb83]

And is the Inner Loop ever a LONGSHOT!!

[dan326]

^Don't say that! Lol, I think this will happen and we need it to happen.

[greg225]

Panel rejects $800 million 'inner loop' plan to help ease Baton Rouge traffic    

The panel can reject the plan, give its OK to move the proposal to the next step or seek more time to review it.

“They are not deciding yes or no on the project,” said Jeff Burst, project management director for the state Department of Transportation and Development.

“What they are doing is (asking), ‘Do we have enough information that it seems reasonably feasible to move to the next phase?’” Burst said.

If that happens, the LTA would advertise for competing proposals.

The idea was submitted by AECOM, a worldwide, Fortune 500 engineering firm that has offices in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

It is called the Baton Rouge Urban Renewal and Mobility Plan, or BUMP.

The proposal would link Interstates 10, 12 and 110 and U.S. 61 and U.S. 190 in a high-speed route around the city.

It would extend 23 miles from I-10 near Pecue Lane in East Baton Rouge Parish, follow an overhauled Airline Highway and proceed across the U.S. 190 bridge to a point on I-10 about 4 miles west of the La. 415 interchange in West Baton Rouge Parish.

The massive project envisions redoing Airline Highway to include a four-lane freeway with tolls and speeds of up to 70 mph.

The other Airline route would mirror the current road, include traffic signals and have speed limits of 40 mph.

The unsolicited proposal has sparked interest among Baton Rouge-area lawmakers, and they got about $1 million added to the state’s capital improvements budget in 2014 for early planning.

However, the plan faces huge political, financial and logistical hurdles, and has gotten little attention beyond a small band of supporters.

The authority is studying the idea just four days before the Saturday primary, and Baton Rouge traffic and possible solutions have been a recurring topic in legislative and other contests, including the race for governor.

BUMP is called a public-private partnership.

That means a private firm — in this case AECOM or another company — would build the road and then contract with the state to recoup its costs, plus a profit.

The LTA has nine members, including DOTD Secretary Sherri LeBas; Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego; a designee for House Speaker Chuck Kleckley, R-Lake Charles; Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Robert Adley, R-Benton; and House Transportation Committee Chairwoman Karen St. Germain, D-Pierre Part.

DOTD officials will not make any recommendations.

Instead, an economic feasibility study will be outlined by officials of HNTB Corp., a national consulting firm that was hired by DOTD officials to do the review.  http://theadvocate.com/news/legislature/13745890-123/800-million-inner-loop-for

[Mr. Burnham]

BOO!!!!!!!! Way to go with progress Baton Rouge.

[greg225]

BOO!!!!!!!! Way to go with progress Baton Rouge.

It's more about the state government then Baton Rouge this could have been done if the state was willing to  borrow the 400 million that was needed.  Something got to be done  instead of these studies which is costing a lot of money.  They could have easily approve the plan and let the developers put up the first 400 million.   

[Mr. Burnham]

It's more about the state government then Baton Rouge this could have been done if the state was willing to  borrow the 400 million that was needed.  Something got to be done  instead of these studies which is costing a lot of money.  They could have easily approve the plan and let the developers put up the first 400 million.   

Would've happened if BRAF and BRAC spent more time trying to get this done than a stupid high speed rail line. 

[caballero]

Long term, I would love to see something like this:

Red is interstate level toll roads. 

So you want to build a highway right through my neighborhood?  What's is your deal man?  I get that this is an urban planning message board, but there are too many people on here with a tear it down or build it wider mentality....There should be a suburb planet for you guys...Connectivity in BR in midcity/Broadmoor/Sherwood/downtown area is already rock solid relatively speaking...Just because SouthEast BR, Livingston and Acension Parish can't get their s--t together and plan right doesn't mean you sacrifice the character and uniqueness of the functional areas of BR...

For anyone interested, go back and read my take on these so called public/private projects (it's a few pages back)...Now my personal opinion is that Airline needs to be 3 lanes all the way from the old bridge to P-Ville (since it's already 3 lanes from Florida to near Old Jefferson), and maybe remove out a light or two, but we should finance it...Loaning our existing and paid for infrastructure, which would be valued at WAY, WAY more than $800million, just so a company can make a few changes and charge us rent makes no sense. It's a knee jerk reaction from the urban flight crowd plain and simple.  What BR needs is a loop and a new bridge that goes completely around the city and more connectivity of surface streets that strive to limit the damage done to the fabric of the neighborhoods in the city...More and cheaper pedestrian and bike trails that skirt or go under, above or around major obstacles are needed right away to address short to medium commutes (you build it people will use it)...I actually did a bike map and posted it somewhere...I'll repost. https://flic.kr/p/sWocv8

There is absolutely zero evidence that this "inner loop" will dramatically alleviate traffic (or change traffic patterns substantially) through BR and it will take a decade before we even know for sure. We would be on the hook for 99 years (or whatever the terms are for) before our infrastructure is returned.  

[Mr. Burnham]

So you want to build a highway right through my neighborhood?  What's is your deal man?  I get that this is an urban planning message board, but there are too many people on here with a tear it down or build it wider mentality....There should be a suburb planet for you guys...Connectivity in BR in midcity/Broadmoor/Sherwood/downtown area is already rock solid relatively speaking...Just because SouthEast BR, Livingston and Acension Parish can't get their s--t together and plan right doesn't mean you sacrifice the character and uniqueness of the functional areas of BR...

For anyone interested, go back and read my take on these so called public/private projects (it's a few pages back)...Now my personal opinion is that Airline needs to be 3 lanes all the way from the old bridge to P-Ville (since it's already 3 lanes from Florida to near Old Jefferson), and maybe remove out a light or two, but we should finance it...Loaning our existing and paid for infrastructure, which would be valued at WAY, WAY more than $800million, just so a company can make a few changes and charge us rent makes no sense. It's a knee jerk reaction from the urban flight crowd plain and simple.  What BR needs is a loop and a new bridge that goes completely around the city and more connectivity of surface streets that strive to limit the damage done to the fabric of the neighborhoods in the city...More and cheaper pedestrian and bike trails that skirt or go under, above or around major obstacles are needed right away to address short to medium commutes (you build it people will use it)...I actually did a bike map and posted it somewhere...I'll repost. https://flic.kr/p/sWocv8

There is absolutely zero evidence that this "inner loop" will dramatically alleviate traffic (or change traffic patterns substantially) through BR and it will take a decade before we even know for sure. We would be on the hook for 99 years (or whatever the terms are for) before our infrastructure is returned.  

All the red lines are either major roadways in existence or four laned roads already built. 

I'm not sure what "functional" areas you are talking about though. The only "functional" area in BR is the LSU Lakes area, Garden District, Downtown, and the areas from Florida Blvd. to Government. Everything else is either a slum or a mess of urban planning. However, I could be missing your argument so further elaboration would be appreciated. 

What I don't understand in your argument is how expanding Airline Hwy. would mean urban sprawl? Maybe in West Baton Rouge where the WBR I10 connection would be located, but as for the city itself we would probably see urban revitalization in those communities as people will want to live closer to the roads. It would also help ease inner city traffic and provide more than 1 entrance and exit from the city. 

North Baton Rouge re-urbanization would turn those blighted areas into new walk-able city districts which would actually help alleviate more traffic and contribute to the creation of distinct neighborhood cultures and communities. It would be those communities that would attract more people to live in the city and 'spread the wealth' without having to get the state or federal government involved. New jobs would be created and economic growth, rather than be centered in the South, would become more evenly focused and provide more opportunities for people wanting to live here or open up businesses. 

As for the suburbs, like Baker, Zachary, Central and Denham Springs; the inner loop could open up the door for new highway connections for those communities which will make commutes to work better and turn Baton Rouge into a city people can work and live in again. 

Now, will this solve all of our problems? Hell no. especially if we only build one loop and also do not try to create new walkable communities. This city also has become damn near impossible to live in if you are middle class given the schools suck, traffic sucks, and city leaders are more focused on building a High Speed rail between us and New Orleans than actually addressing the real and pressing problems we face. 

Toll roads and loops work in Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, etc. and it's funny how they are some of the largest cities in the nation. 

[Antrell Williams]

So you want to build a highway right through my neighborhood?  What's is your deal man?  I get that this is an urban planning message board, but there are too many people on here with a tear it down or build it wider mentality....There should be a suburb planet for you guys...Connectivity in BR in midcity/Broadmoor/Sherwood/downtown area is already rock solid relatively speaking...Just because SouthEast BR, Livingston and Acension Parish can't get their s--t together and plan right doesn't mean you sacrifice the character and uniqueness of the functional areas of BR...

For anyone interested, go back and read my take on these so called public/private projects (it's a few pages back)...Now my personal opinion is that Airline needs to be 3 lanes all the way from the old bridge to P-Ville (since it's already 3 lanes from Florida to near Old Jefferson), and maybe remove out a light or two, but we should finance it...Loaning our existing and paid for infrastructure, which would be valued at WAY, WAY more than $800million, just so a company can make a few changes and charge us rent makes no sense. It's a knee jerk reaction from the urban flight crowd plain and simple.  What BR needs is a loop and a new bridge that goes completely around the city and more connectivity of surface streets that strive to limit the damage done to the fabric of the neighborhoods in the city...More and cheaper pedestrian and bike trails that skirt or go under, above or around major obstacles are needed right away to address short to medium commutes (you build it people will use it)...I actually did a bike map and posted it somewhere...I'll repost. https://flic.kr/p/sWocv8

There is absolutely zero evidence that this "inner loop" will dramatically alleviate traffic (or change traffic patterns substantially) through BR and it will take a decade before we even know for sure. We would be on the hook for 99 years (or whatever the terms are for) before our infrastructure is returned.  

I agree with everything. Never really cared for the BUMP plan at all. Especially no tolls. 

All the red lines are either major roadways in existence or four laned roads already built. 

I'm not sure what "functional" areas you are talking about though. The only "functional" area in BR is the LSU Lakes area, Garden District, Downtown, and the areas from Florida Blvd. to Government. Everything else is either a slum or a mess of urban planning. However, I could be missing your argument so further elaboration would be appreciated. 

What I don't understand in your argument is how expanding Airline Hwy. would mean urban sprawl? Maybe in West Baton Rouge where the WBR I10 connection would be located, but as for the city itself we would probably see urban revitalization in those communities as people will want to live closer to the roads. It would also help ease inner city traffic and provide more than 1 entrance and exit from the city. 

North Baton Rouge re-urbanization would turn those blighted areas into new walk-able city districts which would actually help alleviate more traffic and contribute to the creation of distinct neighborhood cultures and communities. It would be those communities that would attract more people to live in the city and 'spread the wealth' without having to get the state or federal government involved. New jobs would be created and economic growth, rather than be centered in the South, would become more evenly focused and provide more opportunities for people wanting to live here or open up businesses. 

As for the suburbs, like Baker, Zachary, Central and Denham Springs; the inner loop could open up the door for new highway connections for those communities which will make commutes to work better and turn Baton Rouge into a city people can work and live in again. 

Now, will this solve all of our problems? Hell no. especially if we only build one loop and also do not try to create new walkable communities. This city also has become damn near impossible to live in if you are middle class given the schools suck, traffic sucks, and city leaders are more focused on building a High Speed rail between us and New Orleans than actually addressing the real and pressing problems we face. 

Toll roads and loops work in Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, etc. and it's funny how they are some of the largest cities in the nation. 

The functional areas he's talking about is most of Baton Rouge within the actual limits, which is mostly an urban grid. The "slum" (which I assume you mean north BR) is very functional traffic wise. 

Upgrading Airline would surely encourage sprawl to Ascension Parish and even to WBR. Limited access highways do not encourage growth where they are built, they only pull traffic away from the surface roads and businesses located on them. Florida Blvd experienced this when they built the service roads. I wasn't around then so that's what I heard. Same thing happened when they built I-110. Then, they sell it as a loop and it's 100% not a loop whatsoever.

What does re-urbanization mean? North Baton Rouge is already urban. You speak of these neighborhoods as if you've never spent time in them. They have their own history and feel that doesn't need to be created. 

The investment of a commuter rail between Baton Rouge and New Orleans will be FAR more lucrative than a toll road.

The toll roads are very frowned upon pretty much anywhere they are built, for example, the Katy Toll Road is often so congested they are required to refund the tolls collected, Beltway 8 is just as congested as any other freeway in Houston, especially on the west side and surely the north and south soon, and they still pay tolls. So it's a little of a stretch to say they work, more like "no other choice."

[Mr. Burnham]

 

I agree with everything. Never really cared for the BUMP plan at all. Especially no tolls. 

 

The functional areas he's talking about is most of Baton Rouge within the actual limits, which is mostly an urban grid. The "slum" (which I assume you mean north BR) is very functional traffic wise. 

Upgrading Airline would surely encourage sprawl to Ascension Parish and even to WBR. Limited access highways do not encourage growth where they are built, they only pull traffic away from the surface roads and businesses located on them. Florida Blvd experienced this when they built the service roads. I wasn't around then so that's what I heard. Same thing happened when they built I-110. Then, they sell it as a loop and it's 100% not a loop whatsoever.

What does re-urbanization mean? North Baton Rouge is already urban. You speak of these neighborhoods as if you've never spent time in them. They have their own history and feel that doesn't need to be created. 

The investment of a commuter rail between Baton Rouge and New Orleans will be FAR more lucrative than a toll road.

The toll roads are very frowned upon pretty much anywhere they are built, for example, the Katy Toll Road is often so congested they are required to refund the tolls collected, Beltway 8 is just as congested as any other freeway in Houston, especially on the west side and surely the north and south soon, and they still pay tolls. So it's a little of a stretch to say they work, more like "no other choice."

Regardless, the map I posted, which he critiqued, is not limited access and most of those roads would be boulevards ala Paris, Vienna, or Berlin. The odds of anything on the map ever being built is very low. 

As for North Baton Rouge, lets call it for what it very unfortunately is and treated as 'a slum'. Personally I think it is more and can be more, which is why nearly all of the roads in the map are meant to provide better connection between NBR and SBR, in order to encourage and spread economic development. 

The majority of North Baton Rouge is either underdeveloped/run down and in need of more economic development. This most certainly is not the case for the entire areas, but the further east along Florida you go and the further north, the worse it gets. 

[caballero]

All the red lines are either major roadways in existence or four laned roads already built. 

I'm not sure what "functional" areas you are talking about though. The only "functional" area in BR is the LSU Lakes area, Garden District, Downtown, and the areas from Florida Blvd. to Government. Everything else is either a slum or a mess of urban planning. However, I could be missing your argument so further elaboration would be appreciated. 

What I don't understand in your argument is how expanding Airline Hwy. would mean urban sprawl? Maybe in West Baton Rouge where the WBR I10 connection would be located, but as for the city itself we would probably see urban revitalization in those communities as people will want to live closer to the roads. It would also help ease inner city traffic and provide more than 1 entrance and exit from the city. 

North Baton Rouge re-urbanization would turn those blighted areas into new walk-able city districts which would actually help alleviate more traffic and contribute to the creation of distinct neighborhood cultures and communities. It would be those communities that would attract more people to live in the city and 'spread the wealth' without having to get the state or federal government involved. New jobs would be created and economic growth, rather than be centered in the South, would become more evenly focused and provide more opportunities for people wanting to live here or open up businesses. 

As for the suburbs, like Baker, Zachary, Central and Denham Springs; the inner loop could open up the door for new highway connections for those communities which will make commutes to work better and turn Baton Rouge into a city people can work and live in again. 

Now, will this solve all of our problems? Hell no. especially if we only build one loop and also do not try to create new walkable communities. This city also has become damn near impossible to live in if you are middle class given the schools suck, traffic sucks, and city leaders are more focused on building a High Speed rail between us and New Orleans than actually addressing the real and pressing problems we face. 

Toll roads and loops work in Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, etc. and it's funny how they are some of the largest cities in the nation. 

Well, I'm looking at the map and not only does the "3064" go directly through my old house (in Tara), but cuts through parts of where I just moved. It also goes through the BR Country Club and  Tara High School.  And yes these areas are most certainly, by Baton Rouge standards, highly functional and connected to other parts of the city.  Tara, by rough count, has 8 or 9 entry and exit points onto major thoroughfares.  Same with Broadmoor. Same with most of Mid city.  A little bit of tweaking and it could be much, much better.  An expanded and walled off, limited access Airline could potentially hurt this connectivity and much of the progress I've seen over the last 5-10 years.

Also, I don't think I ever said anything about the expansion of Airline leading to urban sprawl. I said that most people reacting positively to this "inner loop deal" are commuters who live outside the city.  People who are pissed about traffic, but who don't care about the quality of life in the city itself or the effects of bringing more lanes, more traffic, more pollution, noise and higher speeds into the heart of this community.  Now I did say Airline SHOULD be 6 laned from N. BR to P-Ville, in addition to other measures, but that already fits the existing footprint and doesn't uproot homes and hundreds of majestic old Oaks for that matter.

As a side note, I think people are already moving back into the city because they see solid built homes with character (in most cases), larger treed lots, and less traffic (yes, my commute was 6 minutes and is now 10 minutes). I know because I just sold my home in Tara for a substantial amount more than what I bought it for a few years ago. And I sold it in less than 30 days. I only mention this because I can't tell you how many people were ready to write off that part of the city when I bought there. 

You mention schools sucking, but schools are only bad because of the Federal forced bussing (another progressive, knee-jerk reaction) and the subsequent middle class flight. This is gone now and there is a renewed focus on making ALL schools better.  I still hear people complain that there are no neighborhood schools, but that's false.  If you live in Broadmoor (for instance), you have priority over students in other attendance zones. Especially for elementary and middle schools.  If more solid middle class families bought in that area, or just simply sent their children to those schools, they (the schools) would be rated highly within a year or two....Hell, Sherwood (middle) Magnet  is a great school. Just imagine if we spent half the money on schools that we spend on expanding commuter infrastructure.