BusinessReport.com

The Perkins Road overpass corridor already is cool and unique—a traditional neighborhood development before there was a name for it, with flowers and pharmaceuticals, latte and literature, burgers and beer all within easy walking and biking distance of each other.

Or maybe not so easy, as anyone who’s braved the narrow shoulders of the overpass during heavy traffic or strolled the stretch of Perkins Road south of the overpass on a Friday or Saturday night can attest. The corridor—gem that it is—is geared much more toward the automobile.

That could change if a plan to make the corridor more pedestrian-friendly gains legs. It started with a February meeting of community stakeholders at Chelsea’s Café, where ideas for improving the area were tossed around. Among those present were landscape architects from Reich Associates, which volunteered its services.

Brian Goad, the firm’s point man on the project, is studying how to make the 1.6-mile stretch of Perkins Road from Acadian Thruway to City Park better connected through sidewalks or multi-use footpaths, with ideas for landscaping, lighting and benches thrown in.

“What we’ve really been doing is helping the different civic associations kind of organize themselves, so that’s kind of where we stand now,” he says. “We’re just kind of throwing out ideas, getting organized and hoping something comes of it.”

Residents are behind it, namely those who’d prefer not to have to drive to corridor destinations a short distance away, Goad says. Shoulder widening is not part of the current renovation of the overpass itself, assuring a thrilling crossing for cyclists and pedestrians for the foreseeable future.

Goad has walked the entire length of the corridor and says it’s possible to run a path beneath the overpass, though it would require right-of-way permission from Kansas City Southern, which owns the railroad tracks. Even if it’s the most obvious solution, railroads don’t easily grant right-of-ways. The corridor, however, is bursting with Magazine Street-style potential, Goad says.

“Since it affects a few different neighborhoods in there, what they need to do is band together,” he says.

Presumably that’s happening now, though proponents are moving cautiously and nothing is finalized—including how to pay for improvements. Tara Wicker, the District 10 Metro Council members whose district includes the corridor, says a community meeting originally slated for June to present ideas under consideration was pushed back to July to allow for more planning. Wicker supports the idea of a makeover.

“Whenever we have the opportunity to connect communities in a way that allows neighbors and residents and families to be able to walk their community and make that a nice family friendly environment, I’m for that,” she says. “We need more of that kind of walkability all throughout the city.”

Wicker says Reich Associates has looked to other cities’ solutions in planning how to handle the corridor. Whether running a path under the overpass is workable is among the issues the architect has taken into consideration.

“We don’t know at this time what will work, but they’ve done a really good job looking at what alternatives are out there,” she says.

Merchants in the area are supportive in general. Cliff Boulden, manager of Bet-R grocery store in the shadow of the overpass, says sidewalks wouldn’t hurt as long as people can still drive to the store.

“We want people to shop here,” he says.

Despite fears that business could drop off as much as 20% once the overpass was closed in mid-March for repair, that hasn’t come to pass, Boulden says. Business is down slightly, but it’s more like 5%, though he thinks it has less to do with the overpass project than the overall shape of the economy. His vendors say business at other Baton Rouge stores is down as well.

“We are behind last year slightly, but it’s not the big, significant decline we had projected,” Boulden says. “We’re doing well considering what’s happening. I’m pretty happy.”

Jenni Peters, owner of Varsity Sports on the north side of the overpass, braced herself for what she assumed would be the inevitable drop in sales, though it never came.

“The long and short of it is not at all,” she says. “Looking at sales month to month and year to year we have not dropped off at all. I guess we’re more of a destination than a drop-in kind of place. I hate to say it because it might jinx me, but we’re actually up.”

Peters says better connectivity and walkability would only help the corridor become the “fun little neighborhood business district which is emerging anyway.” The sidewalks between Lydia and Hundred Oaks avenues, where her shop is situated on Perkins Road are “a mess,” she says.

Peters says she was surprised and disappointed to learn the overpass project would not include wider walkways, though she concedes area stakeholders could have been more active on the issue. She thinks it’s probably a good idea to regroup and “sit down with the city” to find ways to improve the district.

“It’s a real interesting mix, so well-located to the lakes and City Park,” Peters says. “This area could easily be the gateway.”

Chad Ortte, agent with Donnie Jarreau Real Estate and point man for the Perkins Road Hardware redevelopment, says the effort to beautify and improve the area needs to be consolidated and coordinated with Wicker. Jarreau Companies supports the idea, he says, and wonders if some kind of localized sales tax similar to a TIF could be used to help fund improvements.

Ortte thinks the district should be considered a core area the same way downtown is.

“It’s what everybody is trying to do right now, to create these areas around town,” he says. “We already have one—this one—it just needs to be improved. Rising tides float all boats. If this area is revitalized, it’s just better for the whole city.”