BR Area Bridges

[richyb83]

$500 million for new bridge in Baton Rouge making waves, 'Not in the best interest of the state'

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_0d2b3ce4-a46e-11ec-b69c-2b4028a538e4.html

[cajun]

13 hours ago, richyb83 said:

$500 million for new bridge in Baton Rouge making waves, 'Not in the best interest of the state'

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_0d2b3ce4-a46e-11ec-b69c-2b4028a538e4.html

Screw the legislators that want to use this to push non-essential BS in their own districts.   This bridge is a big deal and is absolutely in the best interest of the state.   

[dan326]

^Right, well see.

[richyb83]

 Here we go again...are we really any closer to seeing a "New Bridge" than we were Five years ago? 

In the post 3 years ago Cajun said " 10-15 years from now"....so maybe we are 7 -12 years now from a New Bridge?

Where can we sign up for some more "Studies" and get Paid $$$$ n Full?

The Top   ......Northern-most Option .... is  really the ONLY ONE that makes sense (Bluebonnet ext to Addis) ....upgrading Hwy 30 & La. 1 also factor into the Price tag...  this should somehow  tie in to the Hwy 415 extension w New Intracoastal Waterway Bridge to I-10....A " Southern By Pass" for BR

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_849597bc-b05c-11ec-aca4-fbdf5700fd8f.html

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by richyb83

[cajun]

16 hours ago, richyb83 said:

 Here we go again...are we really any closer to seeing a "New Bridge" than we were Five years ago? 

In the post 3 years ago Cajun said " 10-15 years from now"....so maybe we are 7 -12 years now from a New Bridge?

Where can we sign up for some more "Studies" and get Paid $$$$ n Full?

The Top   ......Northern-most Option .... is  really the ONLY ONE that makes sense (Bluebonnet ext to Addis) ....upgrading Hwy 30 & La. 1 also factor into the Price tag...  this should somehow  tie in to the Hwy 415 extension w New Intracoastal Waterway Bridge to I-10....A " Southern By Pass" for BR

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_849597bc-b05c-11ec-aca4-fbdf5700fd8f.html

 

I would literally take any of them north of Bayou Goula.   

Just build the damn thing already.

[fla_tiger]

IMO, as proposed, the new bridge will likely only attract local traffic. Direct connections to I-10 , built to expressway standards should be part of any construction so to function as a true "by pass".

We have an existing second bridge that is very under utilized. Why can't a surface roadway be built from I-10 near LA 415 to connect to the Old Mississippi River Bridge and skirt northern areas to connect back to I-12 near Juban?

At one point I heard the Audubon Bridge was to tie in with an improved LA 10 to provide a north by pass  between I-49 and I-55. 

 

[cajun]

10 minutes ago, fla_tiger said:

IMO, as proposed, the new bridge will likely only attract local traffic. Direct connections to I-10 , built to expressway standards should be part of any construction so to function as a true "by pass".

We have an existing second bridge that is very under utilized. Why can't a surface roadway be built from I-10 near LA 415 to connect to the Old Mississippi River Bridge and skirt northern areas to connect back to I-12 near Juban?

At one point I heard the Audubon Bridge was to tie in with an improved LA 10 to provide a north by pass  between I-49 and I-55. 

 

We can build up the regional highway network around this new bridge.   The river crossing is the most difficult, most time consuming piece of that puzzle.   We need to nail down a location and get started on it ASAP.  

Edited April 5, 2022 by cajun

[richyb83]

Thanks for dropping by FLTiger! .....hopefully this is a step in the right direction!

With new Mississippi River Bridge planned, coalition calls for La. 30 widening in Ascension

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_03fb4bce-ba7f-11ec-8e77-2b5366410dc7.html

 

 

 

[richyb83]

Piggybacking Cajuns post from different thread ...  Me too found this only cutting  traffic by 20%  very interesting ! Guess my Southern By pass/ hurricane evacuation route will remain a pipe dream.

Just think anything like a New Bridge   going under Plaquemine (South) is going  to suck  ; JMO.....

 

 

 

 

1 minute ago, richyb83 said:

Piggybacking Cajuns post from different thread ...  Me too found this only cutting  traffic by 20%  very interesting ! Guess my Southern By pass/ hurricane evacuation route will remain a pipe dream.

Just think anything like a New Bridge   going under Plaquemine (South) is going  to suck  ; JMO.....

How much would a new bridge help I-10 traffic? Enough to be worth it, state officials say.

While projections show a new bridge across the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge would only trim traffic on the Interstate 10 bridge by 19%, state leaders said that would be enough to make a big difference for motorists who go back and forth across the span.

About 126,000 cars and trucks cross the I-10 bridge daily, according to a report unveiled Monday by consultants for the state.

A new structure at any of three possible sites in Iberville Parish would draw about 24,000 per day, they said.

That volume is nearly identical to the amount of traffic handled by the U. S. 190 bridge in Baton Rouge, known as the "old" bridge, as well as the Sunshine Bridge near Donaldsonville.

Neither is regarded as a big-ticket alternative to traffic that plagues Baton Rouge area interstates.

Shawn Wilson, secretary for the state Department of Transportation and Development, said it is shortsighted to focus on the expected 24,000 motorists per day with a new bridge.

Those 24,000 cars and trucks are what make getting across the I-10 bridge so difficult, Wilson said.

"And that 24,000 is what makes La. 1 so painful," he said, a reference to daily backups by motorists trying to enter the bridge from La. 1 on the west side of the river.

"Morning rush hour is not going to be the same morning rush hour," Wilson said.

Atlas Technical Consultants LLC, which is advising the state, spelled out the estimates Monday as well as figures that show more than 80% of daily traffic on the bridge consists of local residents, not those simply passing through the Baton Rouge area.

Big trucks also make up only 15% of bridge traffic, another surprise.

The bridge and connecting roads will cost up to $3 billion.

Officials hope to settle on a site in 2024.

Scott Kirkpatrick, executive director for the advocacy group CRISIS, said a new bridge has to be viewed as one of three key steps that will improve traffic.

Kirkpatrick noted that the city-parish is spending nearly $1 billion for its road program — called MovEBR — and the state is in the early stages of adding new lanes in each direction on I-10 between La. 415 in West Baton Rouge Parish and the I-10/12 interchange east of College Drive.

But he said other improvements, including the widening of I-10, will make those trips far more manageable than they are now.

Wilson also said motorists traveling from Lafayette to New Orleans will see the new crossing as a way to avoid Baton Rouge traffic, as will those leaving New Orleans for Lake Charles or Houston, especially with expected improvements on La. 1.

Kirkpatrick said about 50,000 cars and trucks that now use the I-10 bridge will have the new structure as an alternative.

"That will make it a very effective bridge," he said.

A total of 23,450 cars and trucks cross the Sunshine Bridge daily, according to DOTD figures.

Another 24,378 use the U. S. 190 bridge, which is north of the I-10 crossing.

The Audubon Bridge, which connects New Roads and St. Francisville, is regarded as sort of the poster child for poor transportation planning by state leaders, who mapped out that route in the 1980s.

It is used by 6,276 cars and trucks daily.

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_f73f920b-7c83-5a28-9d6c-ff06f38bb567.html

 

Cajuns post

"So the interesting findings in the study are that nearly 80% of traffic on the I-10 bridge are local commuters.   That's way more than I expected.   I guess it goes to show you how massive the industrial base in Baton Rouge really is, and how much of it is located along LA1 on the west bank of the river.    Most of those workers live on the east side of the river and commute back and forth on I-10, US 190, or the Sunshine Bridge (which is way too far south IMO).

So if the highway network can be beefed up and geared toward servicing local commuters, it should provide relief on I-10.    In this case, a new bridge around Plaquemine should help in a huge way - removing about 20% of traffic from the I-10 bridge at peak hours.    That's HUGE, even if cross country truck drivers continue to use I-10.   "

Edited September 27 by cajun

 

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by richyb83

[richyb83]

BOOM!  Not sure i have enough faith Louisiana & Baton Rouge will get this right ....

Too bad can not read the entire article

JR Ball: Out-of-the-way site for new bridge won’t produce best return on investment

Eight out of every 10 vehicles slogging across the current “new” Mississippi Bridge and then clogging Interstate 10 are being driven by locals crawling their way across the Baton Rouge metro. 

“But you already knew that … right?” asks Business Report Associate Publisher JR Ball in his new opinion piece. 

Only a fool—or someone remarkably blind to the local private school decals adorning all those pickup trucks, SUVs, luxury sedans and Subarus—would think otherwise. 

Which is precisely why your world should be turning upside down by the jaw-dropping reality that our cavalcade of highly paid transportation “experts” were utterly clueless about Baton Rouge’s worst-kept traffic secret as they go about trying to decide where to add a bridge to alleviate traffic woes, Ball writes. 

“That is almost unbelievable that it is 80% local traffic,” a stunned Fred Raiford, who oversees transportation for East Baton Rouge Parish, was quoted as saying by The Advocate. “It’s a little eye-opening.”

But his information has been around since the Kip Holden administration when building a public-private northern loop around Baton Rouge was the latest big idea. 

An engineer Ball consulted for his column says the only feasible location for a new new bridge—if the goal is unclogging the daily jam on the existing new bridge—is one that goes from the west bank and ties into East Baton Rouge somewhere between Brightside Drive and Bluebonnet Boulevard. 

However, the officials tasked with deciding where a new bridge will be built are bent on putting the $3 billion span over the river in an out-of-the-way spot, a spot that projections show will only reduce I-10 traffic through Baton Rouge by 19%. 

Why aren’t they seeking the best return on investment? 

https://www.businessreport.com/newsletters/jr-ball-out-of-the-way-site-for-new-bridge-wont-produce-best-return-on-investment

[cajun]

12 hours ago, richyb83 said:

BOOM!  Not sure i have enough faith Louisiana & Baton Rouge will get this right ....

Too bad can not read the entire article

JR Ball: Out-of-the-way site for new bridge won’t produce best return on investment

Eight out of every 10 vehicles slogging across the current “new” Mississippi Bridge and then clogging Interstate 10 are being driven by locals crawling their way across the Baton Rouge metro. 

“But you already knew that … right?” asks Business Report Associate Publisher JR Ball in his new opinion piece. 

Only a fool—or someone remarkably blind to the local private school decals adorning all those pickup trucks, SUVs, luxury sedans and Subarus—would think otherwise. 

Which is precisely why your world should be turning upside down by the jaw-dropping reality that our cavalcade of highly paid transportation “experts” were utterly clueless about Baton Rouge’s worst-kept traffic secret as they go about trying to decide where to add a bridge to alleviate traffic woes, Ball writes. 

“That is almost unbelievable that it is 80% local traffic,” a stunned Fred Raiford, who oversees transportation for East Baton Rouge Parish, was quoted as saying by The Advocate. “It’s a little eye-opening.”

But his information has been around since the Kip Holden administration when building a public-private northern loop around Baton Rouge was the latest big idea. 

An engineer Ball consulted for his column says the only feasible location for a new new bridge—if the goal is unclogging the daily jam on the existing new bridge—is one that goes from the west bank and ties into East Baton Rouge somewhere between Brightside Drive and Bluebonnet Boulevard. 

However, the officials tasked with deciding where a new bridge will be built are bent on putting the $3 billion span over the river in an out-of-the-way spot, a spot that projections show will only reduce I-10 traffic through Baton Rouge by 19%. 

Why aren’t they seeking the best return on investment? 

https://www.businessreport.com/newsletters/jr-ball-out-of-the-way-site-for-new-bridge-wont-produce-best-return-on-investment

JR Ball needs to STFU.    The studies released just this month confirmed that the critical design requirement for the new bridge is that its placement needs to attract commuters that would otherwise take the I-10 bridge - getting cross country truck traffic off the bridge is NOT a critical design requirement.   Most of the people who work on the west bank live on the east side of the river, and there are about $9 billion in new factories and plants either in the design or construction phase on the west side of the river.   Those local commuters and local freight traffic are what is clogging LA1 and I-10 every day to the point where it basically shuts down at rush hour.    That's nearly 80% of the traffic on that bridge at rush hour.      If we can cut down the commuter traffic by 20,000-30,000 cars per day on I-10....the traffic situation in that area would be MASSIVELY improved, especially in conjunction with other projects in the pipeline already (the I-10 widening, LA1 bridge replacement, and the LA415 connector).   That 19% reduction in traffic is a HUGE impact.  

Even if he personally wants this bridge to take heavy cross country truck traffic off the bridge, he should be pragmatic enough to understand that a bridge and a highway in an imperfect location is better than no bridge at all.   Do not attempt to derail this because you wanted the bridge a mile upstream or downstream.  Let the experts figure out where to place this so it doesn't destroy river traffic (one of our lifebloods) and actually attracts commuters from I-10 from existing and future industrial facilities along the river.   

He's mad that the bridge isn't going exactly where he wants it.   And he's using his column to project that anger onto everyone else.   This is our chance to move the highway network in this region forward finally - JR Ball can stuff it.    

I know that we need this bridge if we want a chance to build in enough system redundancy to keep the economy moving if there is an accident somewhere in the Baton Rouge area.    We need this if we want a prayer in addressing traffic or economic competitiveness issues in this part of the state.    Most people know that the biggest problem with this new bridge is that it hasn't been built 20 years ago.   

Edited October 7, 2022 by cajun