Capital Area Pathways Project (CAPP)

[nquint1]

I thought this deserved it's own thread. It's already been reported on here that BREC is planning it's first pathway between Siegen and Bluebonnet, Connecting the Mall of LA with Siegen Marketplace. Here's a link to the website:

http://capp-online.org/index.html

What other greenways would you like to see developed in Baton Rouge? I'd really like to see one along Bayou Duplantier that connects University Lake and LSU to Pennington Biomedical Research Center. It could also continue along Dawson creek and connect to the proposed trail at Perkins Rowe.

Edited July 28, 2008 by nquint1

[hagetaka]

thanks for posting this, i had no idea something like this was planned

[richyb83]

I posted earlier and the server?/website??/or computer? was fried Server??

Sorry you missed that LT; I posted the news in the BREC thread(back in Nov 07')post #16.

Thanks nqiunt! This deserved it's own thread eventhough it had been mentioned a few times in the BREC thread. Looks like some missed the info. This is just what BR needs!!

GREAT minds think alike! Check-out my post #4 in BREC thread from way back in March 07' ; I said the same thing! While the Siegen/Bluebonnet pathway is a nice start; no doubt connecting Pennington/Olympia Park(X'treme Sports) to University Lake along the Bayou Duplantier urban watershed would be a "signature" trail! You could cut across the LSU campus to the Levee-bikepath and end up Downtown!

I sent that request to BREC many months back. If it gets plenty of request we can hope it would be the next project in line! I also left it in Business Report's website comment section.

[nquint1]

I posted earlier and the server?/website??/or computer? was fried Server??

Sorry you missed that LT; I posted the news in the BREC thread(back in Nov 07')post #16.

Thanks nqiunt! This deserved it's own thread eventhough it had been mentioned a few times in the BREC thread. Looks like some missed the info. This is just what BR needs!!

GREAT minds think alike! Check-out my post #4 in BREC thread from way back in March 07' ; I said the same thing! While the Siegen/Bluebonnet pathway is a nice start; no doubt connecting Pennington/Olympia Park(X'treme Sports) to University Lake along the Bayou Duplantier urban watershed would be a "signature" trail! You could cut across the LSU campus to the Levee-bikepath and end up Downtown!

I sent that request to BREC many months back. If it gets plenty of request we can hope it would be the next project in line! I also left it in Business Report's website comment section.

I completely missed that post. There are so many good ideas in this forum. We need to get Baton Rouge to wake up and realize the potential here. If this trail is created, I'd like to see it connect to Rouzan.

[Gauge]

Walk and Bike for Life Join BREC to Discuss the Future of Trail Development

On Monday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. in BREC's Ballroom, 6201 Florida Blvd., the BREC Foundation is welcoming world-renowned trail planner, Gil Penalosa, Executive Direc

[richyb83]

Thanks for the head's up Gauge! Can't wait for the trails to begin!!!

[richyb83]

Still some cautious optimism by some...but a nice step in the right direction...I would favor the paths along the waterways of the linnear parks; rather than shared lane on the street

Holden: City's bike routes to triple

The miles of bicycle routes available for riders in East Baton Rouge Parish will nearly triple over the next year, thanks to a consolidated effort by the city-parish, LSU and the East Baton Rouge Recreation and Park Commission, Mayor-President Kip Holden said Wednesday. East Baton Rouge has 23 miles of bike trails, bike lanes and shared-use lanes. Holden said he expects that to increase to 68 miles by June 2010.

Most of the bike route projects have been in the works for a long time, such as the proposed 1.8-mile extension of the levee-top bike and walking trail from downtown to Brightside Drive and Farr Park. In April 2008, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., announced she had obtained a $1 million earmark for the extension of the levee bike path.

Other projects, such as BREC's Wards Creek Linear Park/Pathway, have been planned as part of the local park system's Capital Area Pathways Project. The Wards Creek project calls for construction of a 12-foot-wide walking and bike trail running from the Mall of Louisiana to the Siegen Lane Marketplace. The cost of BREC's proposed 4.1-mile linear park is expected to be about $350,000 per mile.

The Capital Height bike paths created when that street was converted recently to one-way traffic; it now dead-ends at Acadian Thruway, but one of the proposed projects will create new shared lanes along the 0.8-mile stretch of Acadian Thruway from Capital Heights to North Street.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/44961672.html

Edited May 17, 2009 by richyb83

[cajun]

The bike trails alongside the creeks reminds me of Terry Hershey park in west Houston.

That's a busy, busy walking/bike path BTW. It passes under all the main roads in the area at the overpasses built to cross over that bayou (Dairy Ashford, Wilcrest, Kirkwood, Eldridge, etc).

I'm sure one in Baton Rouge would be used as much as the LSU lake walking paths.

[richyb83]

Cool greenway project...interesting route

DDD backs inner-city greenway

The proposed 2.7-mile trail system greenway’s tentative route would swing west from Memorial Stadium to Arsenal Park beside the Capitol, south on Sixth Street or Seventh Street and east on North Boulevard. From there, it would travel under Interstate 110, where public art and parking amenities could be included, and turn east again from the Old South Baton Rouge neighborhood to Brooks Park and City Park.

The project could cost $2 million to $3 million or as much as $20 million, depending on public and private funding, enthusiasm for the project, and amenities chosen, said Davis Rhorer, the DDD executive director. Building parts of the downtown greenway — as the landscaped and lighted pedestrian and cycle path is called — could begin later this year and continue in phases,

Rhorer said the project would dovetail with a BREC plan just beginning for redevelopment of the 40-acre Memorial Stadium park that includes a 21,500-seat football stadium, baseball diamonds and former fairgrounds. A potential passenger rail station is at that park also.

*larger map + entire article...

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/81295202.html

[byrde]

I like that plan to create a Greenway from Memorial Stadium to City Park. I'm really interested in seeing what BREC has planned to improve the area around Memorial Stadium and the facilities there. With the number of high school games played there during the fall, field turf would be a plus for the stadium.

[richyb83]

Me too Bryde

Guess this could also be in Plan BR thread...

Connecting the city; Group aims to link neighborhoods with recreation trail

When planners, consultants and city officials put together the second phase of Plan Baton Rouge last year, goals included finding a way to link an increasingly lively downtown with neighborhoods to the south, east and north and creating more recreational space.

Overpasses are among the most challenging structures for new urbanist planning. They’re harsh, loud, concrete barriers that form a visual and aesthetic wall in the public mind. They are divisive and often avoided by people.

Rhorer said two things struck him along the ride. The first was that the route links six BREC parks and a number of other green public spaces, including the State Capitol and Arsenal Park.

And the South and North boulevard corridors would connect the route to the bike path along the Mississippi River levee and the planned Town Square on North Boulevard, which should be completed next year.

What will be key, Rhorer said, is that the trail would need to connect to places where there are things to do. He noted that BREC is starting a public planning process to overhaul the 40-acre park around Memorial Stadium.

And spots along the route could include active elements, such as skate parks or basketball courts as well as passive ones like benches, lighting, greenery and sculpture.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/84807542.html?index=1&c=y

Edited February 22, 2010 by richyb83

[richyb83]

This could go in a few different threads...But Nquint1 is right when saying this deserved it's own thread...Finally! Thank the developer of The Grove Richard Carmouche for this!

 

Pathway Trail Project Begins.....

 

A new walking/bike path is now under construction along Ward's Creek near the Mall of La. The two-mile(2.8) path btwn Bluebonnet Blvd & Siegen is the 1st Phase of the Capital Area Pathway Project...part of the Medical Loop 7.4 mile trail that will connect Essen Lane; Perkins Road Park; Pennington Biomedical Research Center; LSU Rural Life Museum &Perkins Rowe...

 

*Do not have the link...the pic/caption in Sunday Advocate

 

Need to post a Map of this

Edited April 23, 2013 by richyb83

[Antrell Williams]

Hopefully they clean that mess up.

[richyb83]

Could have also put this in Bike BR thread....hard to decide??

 

On the road to SAFETY? Cyclists gain paths, but gaps remain

 

Bicycle riders in East Baton Rouge Parish have more bike lanes, shared-use paths and well-marked shared roads than ever before.

 

In 2009, Baton Rouge became the first city in Louisiana to receive the designation of “bicycle-friendly community” by the American League of Bicyclists.

Since then, the total length of conventional bike lanes in the parish has increased by more than 50 percent to almost 27 miles.

 

The total length of paved shared-use paths, like the one in front of LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center on Perkins Road, has roughly tripled since 2010 to about 23 miles, according to the City-Parish Planning Commission.

 

Road signs marking shared roads, or “sharrows,” have also increased, serving as reminders that unless otherwise prohibited, bicycle riders have the same rights as cars when it comes to driving on public roads, with the exception of interstates where it is illegal to ride bicycles. “With the anticipated formal adoption of ‘Complete Streets’ policies in 2014, it is anticipated that both biking and pedestrian opportunities will be further expanding in the parish,”

 

Some of the ongoing bike projects include:

• BREC’s Ward Creek Trail, a 12-foot-wide shared-use path that will eventually connect the Mall of Louisiana to Siegen Lane, is nearing completion, awaiting only a bridge that will allow people to cross the creek itself.
• The Capital Area Pathway Project, for which construction began months ago, eventually will connect Essen Lane, BREC’s “Extreme Sports Park” on Perkins Road, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, the LSU Rural Life Museum and Perkins Rowe.
• Next year, construction will begin on the Downtown Development District’s Downtown Greenway, a proposed 3-mile shared-use path that eventually will connect Memorial Park to City Park, LaGrange said.
• The 15-foot-wide Mississippi River levee path, which connects downtown Baton Rouge to BREC’s Farr Park on River Road, is funded for a 7-mile extension to Ben Hur Road, said Bryan Harmon, deputy director of the city-parish’s Department of Public Works.

Harmon said the idea is to extend the path to L’Auberge Casino & Hotel or about another mile past its current funding point.

“The idea is to go from an origination point to a destination,” Harmon said. “Really it’s to tie downtown Baton Rouge to something.”

The assistant chief administrative officer for Holden, John Price, said he’s had preliminary conversations with representatives in New Orleans about extending the levee bike path to New Orleans.

 

An updated map of the comprehensive citywide bike and pedestrian plan can be found online at theadvocate.com.

 

*rest of article*

http://theadvocate.com/news/7277145-123/on-the-road-to-

[cajun]

Shared use paths are a cop out.

They need some more trails..like the one on Ward's creek or the levee top path. Separate lanes would be great as well.

[richyb83]

Gonna have to grab the bike & head down to the Ward's Creek trail...it will be cool when the Medical Loop path is finally complete!

 

BREC ‘chipping away’ at pathways and trails projects

 

http://theadvocate.com/home/8905572-125/brec-chipping-away-at-pathways

[ehyfield]

I remember the first time I drove over the MoL Blvd to go to the Mall and seeing the sidewalk passing under the bridge and was like Oh. My. Goodness. They just pulled a Houston. We are finally growing up.

I'm really glad they are doing this and I hope it keeps up momentum.

Edited April 23, 2014 by ehyfield

[garrett_225]

Once this is complete, I really hope we can get some medical personnel on their bikes and riding to work. 

 

What they really need to do now is plant some shade trees. Those paths will be blistering hot come July-August. 

[itsjustme3]

Once this is complete, I really hope we can get some medical personnel on their bikes and riding to work.

This is the south. It's hot and humid. Not going to happen very much.

[Antrell Williams]

Once this is complete, I really hope we can get some medical personnel on their bikes and riding to work. 

 

What they really need to do now is plant some shade trees. Those paths will be blistering hot come July-August. 

I think we need some nice mature shade trees all over Baton Rouge sidewalks.

This is the south. It's hot and humid. Not going to happen very much.

Not true at all. People do it all over the south.

[itsjustme3]

Bike? Yes.

Bike to work at a real job that doesn't require you to serve coffee or work at the mall? No

[buckett5425]

Come visit NOLA.

[itsjustme3]

Were not off to a good start if you begin by comparing NOLA to BR

[Renzo]

I personally know people who bike to work and these people have jobs that require college degrees so pretty far from serving coffee. the reason it doesn't happen more frequently is because there's a lack of infrastructure for cyclists. 

[buckett5425]

"Were not off to a good start if you begin by comparing NOLA to BR"

 

So, you admit that in New Orleans, some people with "real jobs" do commute to work via bike? So if its not the humidity preventing people in Baton Rouge from biking to work, could it be something else? Perhaps a lack of infrastructure and the suburban nature of the city?

The new greenways will most likely not create a biking commuter culture in BR, they will however be a wonderful recreational amenity. That being said, the areas of town that are more urban, such as Perkins Overpass and Government Street will most likely see some sort of commuter biking culture in the near future, more so from the demographic and culture of the surrounding neighborhoods, but it is very unlikely to see the same in the more suburban areas of the city/parish.