Proposed I-410

[BRPJ]

Thanks BRPJ for your hard work and vision with those prefered traffic routes. I like the maps alot! No doubt all that would improve traffic-flow dramatically!!! A new bridge connecting around Addis/Brusly would be great!!!

The Loop looks great with the connectors too But too many established neighborhoods along the N-S 100 Connector would go thru: Cedarcrest, Broadmoor, Villa del Rey/Red Oaks, and Park Forest. All those residents would not let that happen.

Years ago a southern by-pass failed bec. it was going across the heart wildlife preserve Bulff/Alligator Swamp/Spanish Lake. So the southern edges would probably be knocked down South a few miles following the Hwy.74 route.

Do yall think another "new" bridge would be built between the new Audubon Bridge(New Roads/St.Francisville) currently being worked on now?? and the Hwy.190(Airline Hwy) bridge??

I think the eastern edge of the loop will be further out between Walker and Satsuma.

There definetly needs to be another bridge crossing the Amite into Denham Springs. A bridge on So.Harrel's Ferry Rd. makes alot of sense.

>>I'm curious to know what suburban Prairieville people in there new $400,000 houses will think of the loop going in their backyards??

Yea im not too knowlegable of the geography and what is where, so i figured id cross something.

Maybe one day, it could look something similar too this.... just dreaming i guess....

[dan326]

There's a very good chance of this happening!

Baton Rouge Loop could be ready by 2015

An 80- to 100-mile highway around Baton Rouge could be ready for drivers within eight to 10 years, officials at an implementation meeting for the Baton Rouge Loop project said today. Over the next year, officials and stakeholders from East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Ascension, Livingston and Iberville parishes will hold numerous public meetings and planning sessions to figure out how and where to build the $4 billion project and how to pay for it. Much of the money will come from tolls. Mayor Kip Holden stressed that the project had moved out of the "planning and study phase" and into the "implementation phase."

[richyb83]

Kip Holden has done the most of any BR Mayor concerning roads The Green-Light program; including a 4-laned Central Thruway and now this!!!!!! A 80-100 MILE LOOP

[twstdndmntd]

Way to go BRPJ, that is a great looking map. Totally works. Love the whole "grid" aspect of it. I also love the fact that you have the loop in Denham and not way out there in Walker. I feel the loop needs to be as close as possible to BR. We the only city our size and bigger that does not have a loop around it. A bridge into Addis or Brusly would be a great addition, I am all in favor of the southern section and the section connecting 10 and 12 being done first. There are more people going from the Denham/ Walker area to the plants on the south side of river. Richy, I TOTALLY agree with you on Mayor Holden. I think he is doing a wonderful job and I certainly won't have a problem re-electing him.

[bigboyz05]

I knew traffic in BR was bad but I didn't know it was as bad as you guys are saying.

[twstdndmntd]

I knew traffic in BR was bad but I didn't know it was as bad as you guys are saying.

Yes it's quite bad bigboyz. I always say that from noon till bout 6:30pm we have a federally funded parking lot called I10 and I12. I blame the traffic problems not the fact that we have 2 lane roads but on the fact that the roads we do have don't connect. We lack a grid pattern. We are all forced onto major thorough fares. I personally love the way NOLA has pretty much the perfect grid, you can go from one end to the other on the same street. It's wonderful.

[NCB]

I was actually going to bring that up last night, but my Firefox went crazy. Anyway, here it is...

How can you guys get around Baton Rouge without ever getting confused? Not the older portions of the city closer to the river, as the streets there are pretty easy to figure out, but just about everything anywhere near Airline Highway? I spent three weeks in Baton Rouge after Katrina, so I know the Airline/Jefferson Terrace/ Bluebonnet area pretty well, but apart from that, I need a map to get around most of Baton Rouge. I'm a New Orleanian, so I'm used to a constant grid, and so I'm used to being in some part of the city, getting on a street that goes east, and knowing that after 10 minutes of driving on that street, I'll still be going east. On some roads in Baton Rouge, however, you can get on a street going east, and 10 minutes later you're going north.

There were times in the past, only 4-5 years ago actually, where I would get on one road, thinking that it would continue going a certain way, and figure out that it curved in another direction, and I'd get so lost that I'd have to call friends to figure out which road would take me back to a certain point. Of course I realize that most of the major roads are pretry consistant in their direction, but some of those neighborhood roads, they just seem to go everywhere.

[twstdndmntd]

I was actually going to bring that up last night, but my Firefox went crazy. Anyway, here it is...

How can you guys get around Baton Rouge without ever getting confused? Not the older portions of the city closer to the river, as the streets there are pretty easy to figure out, but just about everything anywhere near Airline Highway? I spent three weeks in Baton Rouge after Katrina, so I know the Airline/Jefferson Terrace/ Bluebonnet area pretty well, but apart from that, I need a map to get around most of Baton Rouge. I'm a New Orleanian, so I'm used to a constant grid, and so I'm used to being in some part of the city, getting on a street that goes east, and knowing that after 10 minutes of driving on that street, I'll still be going east. On some roads in Baton Rouge, however, you can get on a street going east, and 10 minutes later you're going north.

There were times in the past, only 4-5 years ago actually, where I would get on one road, thinking that it would continue going a certain way, and figure out that it curved in another direction, and I'd get so lost that I'd have to call friends to figure out which road would take me back to a certain point. Of course I realize that most of the major roads are pretry consistant in their direction, but some of those neighborhood roads, they just seem to go everywhere.

Yes NCB, I feel your pain. When I first moved here I could only go from Essen to Seigen on either the Interstate or Perkins. For the longest I could only get downtown on the Interstate and we all know how traffic gets on the interstate. But you learn quickly which streets go where and what doesn't. But for the most part our main roads are consistant with direction. But you learn other "backroads". But I do miss the consistant grid in NOLA. There were so many more options to take to get to one place.

[richyb83]

I know what yall mean, but not many cities can compare to New Orleans contstant street grid. The Crescent-shaped grid on the west-side(past Audubon Zoo/Park) had thrown me off on my first time to drive inside the city.

What happened was Baton Rouge started becoming an overgrown country town back in the 50'-60's with a very rapid population increase. Everything had a grid by then, including NBR with a nice parallel-grid. The leaders had no vision. Also when Airline Hwy. was built it was intended to be a By-Pass. And it being in a "diagonal" direction has thrown the north-south flow. + BR is landlocked + NOLA is Southeast

As BR started to spread to the southeast it followed the the finger-shaped "higher land"..Highland, Perkins between the bayou lowlands. This was diagonal. Fused together by Seigen, Bluebonnet, Essen.

I-12 cut's off north-south flow too. Inside BR I think the East-West flow has become sufficient. However the edges are cut-off; the Mississippi River only allows for two-ways out; the Amite on the east-side only has two bridges. Due south of BR is the large Bluff/Alligator Swamp/Spanish Lake.

I can imagine your confusion Nate. You can be driving north on Bluebonnet; which becomes Coursey Blvd. and starts going east. Another confusion thing can be the two different parts of Jefferson Hwy. Merging into Airline into the busy intersetion of Sherwood/Seigen....then turn left at the light to get back on Jefferson Also a mistake in design where I-12 crosses Jefferson/Drusilla near Essen.

[richyb83]

I-12 has a nice stretch eastbound where the Essen off ramp continues to Airline.(Airline need an extra merge lane from I-12) That continous flow lane should go theu Sherwood Forest to Millerville and O'Neal (4 lanes);and 3 lanes to wherever they decide to build the eastern loop in Livingston. They should do the samething west-bound.

Same thing for I-10 all the way to the Ascension loop. Extend the frontage roads from College to Bluebonnet.

[richyb83]

Loop land "boom"; Road may also push economy

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/8513602.h...index=1&c=y

The way Mayor-President Kip Holden sees it, the proposed $4 billion expressway loop around Baton Rouge could trigger a major land boom.

Although the driving force behind the proposed loop is to get traffic moving via an alternative to the interstate system, Holden predicted that the project could spawn major development along the loop corridor.

[dinner roll]

Update from yesterday's loop commission meeting:

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/8615477.html

Commission claims to have determined the general route (subject to adjustment).

They also plan to set up a website soon so the public can monitor progress and planning issues.

[Gauge]

Update from yesterday's loop commission meeting:

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/8615477.html

Commission claims to have determined the general route (subject to adjustment).

They also plan to set up a website soon so the public can monitor progress and planning issues.

From reading that article, it seems clear that a map must exist that shows the boundries of this "doughnut." Does anyone know where we can view this map?

[Rardy]

yikes...I might be the only naysayer on here (sorry guys)

But does anyone really think Baton Rouge needs an 80-100 mile loop? That's the size of Houston's outer loop, Beltway 8. Much, much larger cities than Baton Rouge do not have loops that size.

There's a significant argument that loops encourage sprawl (re: Cincinnati). Given Baton Rouge's already out-of-control sprawl, I really don't see how this can help! I know traffic's terrible - I fumed everyday for 5 years about it - but when traffic reaches a crisis point it really does serve to push development back into established areas rather than sprawling out to Hammond, Ponchatoula, and Sorrento.

There has to be a simpler, cheaper way to get thru traffic out of Baton Rouge and that won't encourage urban sprawl and decay.

Just another view.

[Gauge]

yikes...I might be the only naysayer on here (sorry guys)

But does anyone really think Baton Rouge needs an 80-100 mile loop? That's the size of Houston's outer loop, Beltway 8. Much, much larger cities than Baton Rouge do not have loops that size.

There's a significant argument that loops encourage sprawl (re: Cincinnati). Given Baton Rouge's already out-of-control sprawl, I really don't see how this can help! I know traffic's terrible - I fumed everyday for 5 years about it - but when traffic reaches a crisis point it really does serve to push development back into established areas rather than sprawling out to Hammond, Ponchatoula, and Sorrento.

There has to be a simpler, cheaper way to get thru traffic out of Baton Rouge and that won't encourage urban sprawl and decay.

Just another view.

Although I disagree with most of what you said (I think the loop is an extreme necessity), I do agree that some of these proposed boundaries seem too big. Having the loop go as far south as the sunshine bridge would be a big mistake and would be much more expensive. Also, the northern loop should not go as far north as the Baker/Zachery area. The only place they should be considering crossing the Mississippi River on the north portion is at the existing 190 bridge. In short, the loop should be pulled as close to Baton Rouge as possible after taking existing development and wetlands into consideration. Having the loop too far from Baton Rouge will negate much of the positives that will come from the "land boom" referred to in the earlier Advocate article.

Both loops should branch off at Walker with the southern loop crossing the Mississippi right at Plaquemine at the narrow part of the river. When I get a chance, I will post a map of exactly where I (for what that is worth) think the loop should go.

[cajun]

I don't consider sprawl to be a problem anymore. There is very limited space in Baton Rouge that isn't in a floodplain as it is.

A loop will help improve infrastructure in the suburbs as well as take some traffic of of the freeway through town....because even in Baton Rouge people use the freeway to get anywhere they need.

It might even help sprawl by opening up developable land that isn't off I 12 for a change...maybe throw some housing up to the North and west to offset the endless sprawl to the east.

Off topic, I think a stray freeway to the southwest to hook up with HWY 90 would be a good move, but that is probably not going to ever happen.

The Bridge in Vacherie is finally not going to dead end anymore at river road....so something is going on.

[yis2003yis]

I say the plans should stay sunshine to the baker-zachary area.....I don't know if yall noticed....but baton rouge is being built simular to houston i stay in North Baton Rouge and people up this way think bluebonnet is a long ride and a lot of gas being burned....but if you pay attention in the future bluebonnet will be mid-city with gonzales on the up-rise ...what alot of yall are missing is they said 10 years at the rate this city is moving now it's no telling how big this city will be in 10 years..and back to the topic....the interstate stops in scotlandville...i use to work in baker-zachary delivering pizza they host alot of residents up that way and thats why hwy 19 and plank rd. has to deal with all that traffic ..mainly because it's 2 lanes and u have tons of red lights all the way till u get slaughter LA.... So i say a interstate running to the end of zachary is really needed

[Rardy]

I don't consider sprawl to be a problem anymore. There is very limited space in Baton Rouge that isn't in a floodplain as it is.

A loop will help improve infrastructure in the suburbs as well as take some traffic of of the freeway through town....because even in Baton Rouge people use the freeway to get anywhere they need.

It might even help sprawl by opening up developable land that isn't off I 12 for a change...maybe throw some housing up to the North and west to offset the endless sprawl to the east.

Off topic, I think a stray freeway to the southwest to hook up with HWY 90 would be a good move, but that is probably not going to ever happen.

The Bridge in Vacherie is finally not going to dead end anymore at river road....so something is going on.

Baton Rouge has a vicious sprawl problem IMO, and Livingston and Ascension are not helping that a bit. Simply because an area is in a floodplain does not limit development. 96% of Livingston Parish is in the 100-year floodplain - that hasn't inhibited development at all. It's only designated wetlands (very different from a floodplain) that are off-limits to development.

I see a loop as needlessly costly and you're right - it will definitely open up developable land in the north and west. That's just not always a good thing. That inhibits price appreciation in the city, gobbles up land, and requires expensive new infrastructure. Old news. And freeways tend to be a direct contributor to that problem.

Surely widening the existing freeways would help the traffic problem when accompanied by a serious campaign to widen and connect arterials. Additionally, think what 4 billion dollars (the cost of this ridiculously over-built loop) could do in mass-transit. High-speed trains, light rail, BRT - 4 billion would fund all of that.

I think I've used up my 2 cents now.

[Gauge]

Baton Rouge has a vicious sprawl problem IMO, and Livingston and Ascension are not helping that a bit. Simply because an area is in a floodplain does not limit development. 96% of Livingston Parish is in the 100-year floodplain - that hasn't inhibited development at all. It's only designated wetlands (very different from a floodplain) that are off-limits to development.

I see a loop as needlessly costly and you're right - it will definitely open up developable land in the north and west. That's just not always a good thing. That inhibits price appreciation in the city, gobbles up land, and requires expensive new infrastructure. Old news. And freeways tend to be a direct contributor to that problem.

Surely widening the existing freeways would help the traffic problem when accompanied by a serious campaign to widen and connect arterials. Additionally, think what 4 billion dollars (the cost of this ridiculously over-built loop) could do in mass-transit. High-speed trains, light rail, BRT - 4 billion would fund all of that.

I think I've used up my 2 cents now.

Just one quick point to make (for now). The 4 billion dollar loop will be funded through tolls. I like your ideas for high speed trains, etc., but we are not taking away money from these projects to pay for the loop. Its not like we can use this 4 billion to pay for other things.

[yis2003yis]

Just one quick point to make (for now). The 4 billion dollar loop will be funded through tolls. I like your ideas for high speed trains, etc., but we are not taking away money from these projects to pay for the loop. Its not like we can use this 4 billion to pay for other things.

thank u ...ive been sayin that in my head the whole time...they gave start off money to be strictly for the loop so y not use it all...it's not like they can pocket the money and save it for later projects....

[Gauge]

The following link shows the route, in blue, that I think the loop should take considering existing developments, wetlands, usefulness, etc.

The other blue lines are kind of my pipe dreams about how the interstate system in Baton Rouge should be expanded.

Most importantly, I think Baton Rouge has a lack of any kind of north-south interstate system. I think Airline highway should be turned into an interstate that meets up with the loop on the north end near the airport. This would really help economic development in this huge area north of I-12 that is highly developed but needs some revitalization. Less likely to happen is this new airline highway interstate branching off and continuing south west along the current Siegen Lane to meet up with the south loop. There is also shown an "I-110 extension" that would continue up through Baker and Zachary. Lest likely to happen (because of existing development) but perhaps most needed would be an I-12 branch at the 10-12 split that continued south west between Essen and College drive that eventually tees into river road.

I know my proposed interstate expansions will probably never happen, but I would bet the loop route will end up being pretty close to what I have proposed.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&i...p;z=11&om=1

[richyb83]

I like your proposed map gauge, thanks for posting that! I like your routes around the city and your ideas too.

We are trying to figure out how Hwy 190 bridge would be "upgraded" to Interstate standards, esp. with the R.R. tracks running along it??

The "team" of leaders deciding where exactly to run this Loop have their hands full to say the least. I can already see the suburbanites in Ascension and Livingston foaming at the mouth because a expressway will be cutting thru the middle of their house!!!

It's a good idea to build another bridge over the Amite...either So.Harrels Ferry Rd. or Tiger Bend would work. It could easily connect near Juban Road in Livingston.

My Dad still can't figure out how politics played out in extending Bluebonnet to Nicholson (Hwy30) instead of Siegen?? Siegen should have been extended..not to go thru the middle of 30mph residential areas like Bluebonnet does. I need to draw/post my proposed ramps along the wicked Siegen/Burbank curve..continuous-flow w/ NO TRAFFIC SIGNAL!

Widen the existing Intestates(10-12) in the city with continuous merge lanes(extra-lane) in between; Like they now have between Acadian Thwy./College Drive & Essen/Airline. Extend them out further.

[Rardy]

How about this

It's a compromise of sorts; a loop that only goes through already-developed areas. I think my entire plan could easily be accomplished for less than 2 billion, would minimize congestion, and would not overtly encourage sprawl. At the same time, I think it would bring new life into parts of blighted north Baton Rouge.

(I hope this link works)

[richyb83]

I like the compromise Rardy The Mayor of Walker has mentioned a new 4-laned hwy.(in the past year) running south paralleling Hwy. 447. I agree with the #of lanes going down I-10/12, that should be done. For now the extra lanes on I-12 will be extended to Juban Road between D.S. and Walker.

But one thing that has to be done for "evacuation purposes" for the New Orleans Metro traveling West, is having a southern by-pass from Ascension to WBR. The massive traffic exodus could avoid the entire 10-12 "gridlock-funnel" in BR: between the split and I-110.

In another year??? Hwy.415 in WBR is supposed to be extended to La.1 near Brusly ; with a new bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway.

[twstdndmntd]

I truely belive that BR does need the loop. I am, however, extremely concerned with the proposal. I think it is way to big for us. There is absolutely no need for it to be 80-100 miles long. If we are going to do it, it needs to get as close as possible to the city itself. Connecting in Denham and running somewhere between Gonzales and Highland Rd. over the river into Iberville Parish. Once again I have to express that I feel the Southern and Eastern portions need to be built first. For me the Northern section is just lagniappe. I still feel that we have more commuters going from Denham and Walker to Iberville parish than from Livingston and Ascension to WBR.