Mark Martin is prepping for a full schedule of projects on the horizon—from securing a designation of Route 90 from DeRidder to Bogalusa as a US Bicycle Route, preparing for workshops later this month with several Baton Rouge organizations to brainstorm how to use federal funding to improve bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and consulting with the city on a new Dalrymple Drive bike path.
Several streets in the downtown area will be closed to traffic over the next two weeks, beginning Thursday, to accommodate the filming of Search Party, a comedy from the producers of Baton Rouge-filmed Pitch Perfect. Road closures and parking restrictions through Saturday will include portions of Lafayette Street and North Boulevard, as well as North Fourth Street. On Monday, portions of Spanish Town Road will be affected, as well as some of the previously mentioned streets. Filming will also affect North Boulevard on Tuesday, May 14. You can read the specifics on the street closures and parking restrictions related to the filming here. Search Party is being produced by Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films. The film is directed by Scot Armstrong, who is best known for writing Hangover, Elf, and Old School. It stars T.J. Miller, Adam Pally and Thomas Middleditch.
The Better Block BR event last weekend saw an impressive turnout, and despite rain shutting down the second day of the event, the sense of accomplishment was already there. Saturday saw between 1,500 and 2,000 attendees, according to organizers, and guest appearances from Mayor Kip Holden and his caravan of cyclists for the Mayor's Family Bike Day.
Metro Councilman Ryan Heck says he's still undecided on whether he'll support a tax increment financing proposal to help Costco Wholesale offset some of the construction costs for a proposed Baton Rouge location in his district. "I haven't been convinced," says Heck, who was among those attending a neighborhood meeting held Tuesday evening to discuss the impact of the planned warehouse superstore. "Economic development seems to me, in some ways, has become a race to the bottom." Many area homeowners who attended the meeting were angry about the additional traffic and potential crime that the members-only retailer might bring to their streets. And they appeared to be hearing about the TIF proposal—which was introduced at a Metro Council meeting earlier this month—for the first time. As Heck explained the proposed TIF, the leader of the homeowner's association attempted to assuage concerns. "It's a drop in the bucket with what we're doing with IBM," Celeste Ellender told...
The New Orleans Aviation Board today is expected to recommend an $826 million redevelopment plan meant to thrust Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport into the modern era, The Times-Picayune reports. The overhaul would be in lockstep with what New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has said he would like to see done at the airport in time for the city's 300th anniversary in 2018. The plan includes building a new, $650 million, 30-gate terminal with three concourses and a parking garage, as well as a $17 million privately financed hotel, all on the north side of the airport's east-west runway, according to documents obtained by the New Orleans newspaper. The overhaul would also include a $72 million state-financed power station and a new, $87 million ramp on Interstate 10 to direct eastbound traffic to the new terminal. Nonetheless, it could be a tough sell to a skeptical public that watched a $305 million overhaul of the existing terminal, in preparation for the Super...
Don Hunter biked 12 miles from his subdivision on South Harrells Ferry to work downtown 42 times last year. That was before an accident in July 2012 (Friday the 13th, actually) when he flipped his bike on bad pavement, breaking his collarbone and cracking two ribs. Now, after months of recuperation, he bikes about 11 miles, instead.
This weekend marks the beginning of a transformation on Government Street with the Better Block BR project. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on the two blocks between Bedford and Beverly drives, residents will get to see a model of what Government Street could look like if we push local and state officials to update the roadway to a safer, more “complete street” model.
Officials from the Department of Public Works spent the morning walking through the old Woman's Hospital facility on Airline Highway to determine how best to quickly and inexpensively convert the 24-acre campus into a public safety complex that will house the administrative offices of the Baton Rouge Police Department and, eventually the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office as well. "Right now we're trying to figure out how we can move them without spending hardly anything," says city-parish Chief Administrative Officer William Daniel. "We may have to use a little bit of money from DPW's carry-forward funds but it will be relatively painless to move the majority of the people in here." Daniel declines to say how much "hardly anything" might mean, but he says the goal is to keep the price down, as the city-parish is already planning to spend some $10 million to acquire the facility later this year. Earlier this week, DPW representatives met with neighborhood residents, who have...
Expressway Park sits in the shadow of the I-10/I-110 split, with the rumble of traffic echoing off the huge concrete pilings that separate the busy interstate above from the inner-city green space below. The South Baton Rouge Jaguars youth football team often practices on a field here, between the overpass bridges. At night, the interstate lighting high above isn't enough to illuminate the practice field, so parents of the young players use the headlights of their vehicles to keep evening practices going.
In preparation for the Better Block BR event in April—where two blocks of Government Street will be converted to a “complete street” model for a weekend—organizers are hosting a workshop tonight to hear what types of infrastructure, businesses and activities you want to see along the route.
New Orleans has been selected to receive technical assistance to explore the possibility of establishing a bike sharing program, Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday. Bike sharing programs are designed to provide free or affordable access to bicycles for short trips in an urban area as an alternative to motorized public transit or private vehicles. "As New Orleans looks to establish a Bikeshare program, the EPA's technical assistance will help promote its growth and success in our city," Deputy Mayor Cedric Grant says. "Bikeshare programs offer a convenient alternative to driving and encourage healthy and safe commuting. They can also reduce vehicular traffic and environmental hazards while promoting sustainability." As part of the technical assistance to be provided, EPA staff and national experts will hold a local workshop to explore the potential of establishing such a program in the Crescent City. Specifically, it will...
Picture a busy surface street in the city you use frequently. How would you make it rightsized? By that, I mean, the street likely no longer meets the needs of the people who use it. The road doesn't have a middle turning lane or a median to control traffic flow. The area is frequented by pedestrians and cyclists, but the infrastructure doesn't allow safe crosswalks, bike lanes or even sidewalks in some areas. Maybe it needs additional lanes for heavy traffic, or less lanes because it no longer services many vehicles.
The first phase of the environmental permitting process for a controversial and long-debated highway traffic loop around Baton Rouge was approved Tuesday by the Baton Rouge Urbanized Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. Mike Bruce, a principal at Stantec, a lead engineering firm on the loop, says the $629,000 permitting phase for the loop is part of an earmark that the U.S. Congress approved about four years ago but is just now being put to use. It is a necessary step if the loop is ever to get an environmental permit from the Federal Highway Administration, which is required for federal funding on any future construction phase on the project. Bruce says once the roughly 85-mile loop's route has been determined, future environmental studies will detail the artifacts and endangered species in the area. Those studies could cost "several million dollars," he says. Despite public perception that the loop has been killed by opposition in cities such as Central as well as other...
You'll probably want to avoid eastbound Interstate 10 if you're out and about Baton Rouge today. State police are telling local media outlets that they don't know how long the eastbound interstate lanes will be closed following an accident around 8:45 a.m. that left an 18-wheeler overturned between the Siegen Lane and Highland Road exits. The accident is being investigated, and no injuries have been reported. The 18-wheeler, which is reportedly filled with 76,000 pounds of cement; none of which spilled in the wreck, ended up off the roadway. While the wreck initially closed just one lane of the interstate, all lanes have since been closed as a crew works to upright the truck and move it. State police did not return calls seeking comment on the accident before press time.
An email from reader Stephanie Launey reminded me of an issue I've often wondered about: How can you have a bus stop along a busy urban road that isn't accessible by sidewalk? Maybe it's acceptable in a rural area where there aren't many sidewalks to begin with, but in the concrete jungle of Baton Rouge?
When Rouzan developer Tommy Spinosa explained to the library board last month why it is taking so long to get his traditional neighborhood development off the ground, he blamed the state for holding up a key traffic permit he needs.
The draft of a 2011 traffic impact analysis on Rouzan obtained by Daily Report shows that the planned traditional neighborhood development adjacent to Southdowns could make some of south Baton Rouge's most congested intersections even more gridlocked. Among the most adversely affected would be College/Lee Drive and Perkins Road, where the delay per vehicle during evening rush hour would increase from an average of 74.5 seconds—an E on the industry's A-F grading scale—to an average of 98.9 seconds, an F. However, Rouzan developer Tommy Spinosa says he is working with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development on several proposed improvements to the area that will mitigate Rouzan's impact on local traffic. "We will invest over half a million dollars on infrastructure improvements to address existing traffic congestion and mitigate the impact of new trips associated with Rouzan," Spinosa says. "This will include turn lanes on Perkins Road,...
If your morning commute has been noticeably longer this week and you're wondering why, it's due to the hangover of Hurricane Isaac on the traffic light system and the unavoidable congestion that comes with the start of school. "Mostly it's school traffic," says city-parish traffic engineer Ingolf Partenheimer, noting that gridlock can increase 15% to 20% in the Capital Region each year when school begins. Add a traffic light system still destabilized from Isaac's winds, and the commute woes deepen. Partenheimer says that, for the 500 intersections in the area, about 400 cameras help keep traffic flowing. But all of them were potentially knocked out of synchronization by the storm. He says the engineering department has nine workers checking each camera to make sure they're pointing in the right direction. When the cameras are not pointed where they're supposed to be, the lights get out of sync. Green lights for left turns can get especially batty, Partenheimer says. "I've got...
The pathetic state of what passes for a surface street grid in Baton Rouge was on full display Aug. 22 when a tanker truck leaking a toxic chemical not only closed Interstate 10 but effectively shut down much of the city, says Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball in his new column. "Absent I-10 to ferry commuters to their jobs, drivers had no choice but to use surface streets that were never designed to handle such volume. Which—as one might expect during a 20-minute commute that, on this day, lasted nearly four blood pressure–soaring hours—led to the invention of many new and colorful four-letter expletives to express the colossal exasperation that can only be experienced during a 60-minute, horn-honking, middle-finger-waving, inch-by-inch, quarter-mile crawl down Bluebonnet Boulevard," Ball writes. While many motorists who had a similar experience immediately took to their online social networks to vent their frustration and call for support of the...
The pathetic state of what passes for a surface street grid in Baton Rouge was on full display Aug. 22 when a tanker truck leaking a toxic chemical not only closed Interstate 10 but effectively shut down much of the city. Absent I-10 to ferry commuters to their jobs, drivers had no choice but to use surface streets that were never designed to handle such volume.
Interstate 10 West is closed at the I-10/I-110 split in Baton Rouge because of an overturned tractor trailer. Traffic is being diverted to I-110 North to U.S. 190 west to La. 415 south back to I-10 West. The truck was not carrying any hazardous chemicals, but clearing the accident could take several hours, a transportation department spokesman says.
I hope everyone had a nice time driving around this past Wednesday. Hopefully you took time to smell the roses; lack of time was definitely not an excuse. So in case you somehow missed it, the Baton Rouge Metro area was treated to an interstate traffic disaster that pretty much shut down the Baton Rouge street grid. Pausing for a flipped over car on I-10 near Essen Lane, a semi-truck with a tanker load of isobutane was rammed by another semi-truck reportedly hauling beer causing a chemical spill. As such, one of the two primary arteries in the city (and the main route for interstate traffic to New Orleans) was shut down for just about 24 hours.
Economists are not sure how much today's closure of Interstate 10 impacts the local economy. Productivity is lost when workers can't get to work on time, that's for sure. But how much business is actually lost is difficult to calculate for a variety of reasons. "It certainly has an impact for a day or so, but it's not going to kill the economy," LSU economist Jim Richardson says of today's interstate wreck, which snarled traffic across the parish throughout the day. While economists downplayed the economic impact, BRAC President/CEO Adam Knapp used the occasion to again champion the need for better planning in general—and for the long-discussed traffic loop, in particular. "Decades of bad planning haven't kept up with growth … and we're feeling the pain today," Knapp says. I-10 could possibly be closed through the night, officials say, which means the afternoon congestion is likely to be high. To help offset the gridlock, state employees who travel south from the downtown...
Two of the Baton Rouge area's biggest transportation flaws were exposed again today: There's only one major traffic artery, and it happens to be the interstate. "We have a lack of redundancy in the system," says Ken Perret, a transportation civil engineer who is president of the Louisiana Good Roads and Transportation Association and a former federal and state transportation official. "We don't have good alternate routes." Perret says the city-parish has made progress through the Green Light Plan, but the region still has a long way to go "to develop parallel arteries to take the pressure off the interstate." At the state level, a steady funding stream would help in developing a long-range transportation plan, he says, noting that the gasoline tax has been frozen since the 1980s. "I don't think there is a short-term solution," says Rachel DiResto, executive vice president of the Center for Planning Excellence. The long-term solution, she says, is a better-connected street grid, as...
State police say the closures on Interstate 10 that have traffic jammed up across Baton Rouge could last all day, as crews work to remove isobutane that was spilled when several 18-wheelers and a car became tangled in accidents around 3:45 this morning. I-10 remains closed in both directions, between Essen Lane and Bluebonnet Boulevard, as of press time. The ramp from Interstate 12 west onto I-10 east is also closed. Police say the accident happened at Essen Lane when a car flipped. A tanker truck stopped for the accident and was rear-ended by another 18-wheeler. The tanker truck was carrying isobutane, which is similar to the propane used for barbecue grills. Troopers say the isobutane must be removed before the scene can be cleared. There were at least two injuries in the wreck. Today's poll question: How long were you delayed in getting to work this morning?
The Friday evening commute in Baton Rouge is worse than it is in New Orleans, according to a study published Friday in Governing magazine. Baton Rouge is ranked 11th-worst out of 100 surveyed areas, with an average Friday evening commute 23% longer than its noncongested periods, according to the traffic research firm Inrix of Kirkland, Wash. That adds seven minutes to a trip that normally would require only 30, reports The Times-Picayune in a story on the report. Monday-through-Thursday commutes in Baton Rouge take almost 15% longer than at uncongested times, averaging four extra minutes, according to the data. The New Orleans area's typical Friday evening commute is almost 14% longer than off-peak times, according to Inrix. That adds about four minutes to the 30-minute commute. Monday-through-Thursday rush hour commutes in the New Orleans area take more than 9%, or almost three minutes, longer than in off-peak periods. To read the story in The Times-Picayune,...
The antidote to Baton Rouge's traffic woes has been on the books for decades. It's called the Major Street Plan and is the backbone of the Green Light Plan, which has six projects under way and 26 already completed.
A federal court of appeals has ruled that New Orleans' automated traffic enforcement system ordinance is constitutional, reports The Wall Street Journal at its MarketWatch website. In doing so, the court found the city's interest in reducing traffic crashes outweighs the private interests of avoiding a fine. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals' decision affirmed a lower court's decision. Ruling on the class-action lawsuit brought against the city of New Orleans, the court found the city to be within its legal bounds to issue civil citations for traffic infractions caught on camera, and that the city's law did not violate the constitutional protection of due process. The court reached its decision by weighing private interests against government interests and found in favor of a city's broad ability to safeguard the public. To read the full report, click
Changing gears
Mark Martin is prepping for a full schedule of projects on the horizon—from securing a designation of Route 90 from DeRidder to Bogalusa as a US Bicycle Route, preparing for workshops later this month with several Baton Rouge organizations to brainstorm how to use federal funding to improve bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and consulting with the city on a new Dalrymple Drive bike path.
Downtown street closures set for 'Search Party' filming
Several streets in the downtown area will be closed to traffic over the next two weeks, beginning Thursday, to accommodate the filming of Search Party, a comedy from the producers of Baton Rouge-filmed Pitch Perfect. Road closures and parking restrictions through Saturday will include portions of Lafayette Street and North Boulevard, as well as North Fourth Street. On Monday, portions of Spanish Town Road will be affected, as well as some of the previously mentioned streets. Filming will also affect North Boulevard on Tuesday, May 14. You can read the specifics on the street closures and parking restrictions related to the filming here. Search Party is being produced by Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films. The film is directed by Scot Armstrong, who is best known for writing Hangover, Elf, and Old School. It stars T.J. Miller, Adam Pally and Thomas Middleditch.
The street that could
The Better Block BR event last weekend saw an impressive turnout, and despite rain shutting down the second day of the event, the sense of accomplishment was already there. Saturday saw between 1,500 and 2,000 attendees, according to organizers, and guest appearances from Mayor Kip Holden and his caravan of cyclists for the Mayor's Family Bike Day.
Neighbors voice traffic concerns at meeting on Costco
Metro Councilman Ryan Heck says he's still undecided on whether he'll support a tax increment financing proposal to help Costco Wholesale offset some of the construction costs for a proposed Baton Rouge location in his district. "I haven't been convinced," says Heck, who was among those attending a neighborhood meeting held Tuesday evening to discuss the impact of the planned warehouse superstore. "Economic development seems to me, in some ways, has become a race to the bottom." Many area homeowners who attended the meeting were angry about the additional traffic and potential crime that the members-only retailer might bring to their streets. And they appeared to be hearing about the TIF proposal—which was introduced at a Metro Council meeting earlier this month—for the first time. As Heck explained the proposed TIF, the leader of the homeowner's association attempted to assuage concerns. "It's a drop in the bucket with what we're doing with IBM," Celeste Ellender told...
$826 million overhaul of N.O. airport prepared for take off
The New Orleans Aviation Board today is expected to recommend an $826 million redevelopment plan meant to thrust Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport into the modern era, The Times-Picayune reports. The overhaul would be in lockstep with what New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has said he would like to see done at the airport in time for the city's 300th anniversary in 2018. The plan includes building a new, $650 million, 30-gate terminal with three concourses and a parking garage, as well as a $17 million privately financed hotel, all on the north side of the airport's east-west runway, according to documents obtained by the New Orleans newspaper. The overhaul would also include a $72 million state-financed power station and a new, $87 million ramp on Interstate 10 to direct eastbound traffic to the new terminal. Nonetheless, it could be a tough sell to a skeptical public that watched a $305 million overhaul of the existing terminal, in preparation for the Super...
Share the road
Don Hunter biked 12 miles from his subdivision on South Harrells Ferry to work downtown 42 times last year. That was before an accident in July 2012 (Friday the 13th, actually) when he flipped his bike on bad pavement, breaking his collarbone and cracking two ribs. Now, after months of recuperation, he bikes about 11 miles, instead.
A better block is upon us
This weekend marks the beginning of a transformation on Government Street with the Better Block BR project. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on the two blocks between Bedford and Beverly drives, residents will get to see a model of what Government Street could look like if we push local and state officials to update the roadway to a safer, more “complete street” model.
DPW officials, architects mapping office space in old Woman's Hospital
Officials from the Department of Public Works spent the morning walking through the old Woman's Hospital facility on Airline Highway to determine how best to quickly and inexpensively convert the 24-acre campus into a public safety complex that will house the administrative offices of the Baton Rouge Police Department and, eventually the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office as well. "Right now we're trying to figure out how we can move them without spending hardly anything," says city-parish Chief Administrative Officer William Daniel. "We may have to use a little bit of money from DPW's carry-forward funds but it will be relatively painless to move the majority of the people in here." Daniel declines to say how much "hardly anything" might mean, but he says the goal is to keep the price down, as the city-parish is already planning to spend some $10 million to acquire the facility later this year. Earlier this week, DPW representatives met with neighborhood residents, who have...
The missing link
No building says “Baton Rouge” more than the Louisiana State Capitol, with the possible exception of Tiger Stadium.
Can the Greenway improve struggling neighborhoods?
Expressway Park sits in the shadow of the I-10/I-110 split, with the rumble of traffic echoing off the huge concrete pilings that separate the busy interstate above from the inner-city green space below. The South Baton Rouge Jaguars youth football team often practices on a field here, between the overpass bridges. At night, the interstate lighting high above isn't enough to illuminate the practice field, so parents of the young players use the headlights of their vehicles to keep evening practices going.
The road to complete streets
In preparation for the Better Block BR event in April—where two blocks of Government Street will be converted to a “complete street” model for a weekend—organizers are hosting a workshop tonight to hear what types of infrastructure, businesses and activities you want to see along the route.
N.O. to consider bike sharing program for commuting
New Orleans has been selected to receive technical assistance to explore the possibility of establishing a bike sharing program, Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday. Bike sharing programs are designed to provide free or affordable access to bicycles for short trips in an urban area as an alternative to motorized public transit or private vehicles. "As New Orleans looks to establish a Bikeshare program, the EPA's technical assistance will help promote its growth and success in our city," Deputy Mayor Cedric Grant says. "Bikeshare programs offer a convenient alternative to driving and encourage healthy and safe commuting. They can also reduce vehicular traffic and environmental hazards while promoting sustainability." As part of the technical assistance to be provided, EPA staff and national experts will hold a local workshop to explore the potential of establishing such a program in the Crescent City. Specifically, it will...
Rightsizing Baton Rouge streets
Picture a busy surface street in the city you use frequently. How would you make it rightsized? By that, I mean, the street likely no longer meets the needs of the people who use it. The road doesn't have a middle turning lane or a median to control traffic flow. The area is frequented by pedestrians and cyclists, but the infrastructure doesn't allow safe crosswalks, bike lanes or even sidewalks in some areas. Maybe it needs additional lanes for heavy traffic, or less lanes because it no longer services many vehicles.
Environmental permitting for B.R. loop gets under way
The first phase of the environmental permitting process for a controversial and long-debated highway traffic loop around Baton Rouge was approved Tuesday by the Baton Rouge Urbanized Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. Mike Bruce, a principal at Stantec, a lead engineering firm on the loop, says the $629,000 permitting phase for the loop is part of an earmark that the U.S. Congress approved about four years ago but is just now being put to use. It is a necessary step if the loop is ever to get an environmental permit from the Federal Highway Administration, which is required for federal funding on any future construction phase on the project. Bruce says once the roughly 85-mile loop's route has been determined, future environmental studies will detail the artifacts and endangered species in the area. Those studies could cost "several million dollars," he says. Despite public perception that the loop has been killed by opposition in cities such as Central as well as other...
No word on how long overturned 18-wheeler will have I-10 East shut down
You'll probably want to avoid eastbound Interstate 10 if you're out and about Baton Rouge today. State police are telling local media outlets that they don't know how long the eastbound interstate lanes will be closed following an accident around 8:45 a.m. that left an 18-wheeler overturned between the Siegen Lane and Highland Road exits. The accident is being investigated, and no injuries have been reported. The 18-wheeler, which is reportedly filled with 76,000 pounds of cement; none of which spilled in the wreck, ended up off the roadway. While the wreck initially closed just one lane of the interstate, all lanes have since been closed as a crew works to upright the truck and move it. State police did not return calls seeking comment on the accident before press time.
The bus stops here
An email from reader Stephanie Launey reminded me of an issue I've often wondered about: How can you have a bus stop along a busy urban road that isn't accessible by sidewalk? Maybe it's acceptable in a rural area where there aren't many sidewalks to begin with, but in the concrete jungle of Baton Rouge?
Parties hash out details for improvements to mitigate traffic
When Rouzan developer Tommy Spinosa explained to the library board last month why it is taking so long to get his traditional neighborhood development off the ground, he blamed the state for holding up a key traffic permit he needs.
Rezoning righteously
FuturEBR is a fluid land-use plan, city-parish leaders say. Any residential lot can be rezoned to commercial if the planning is right.
Draft report shows Rouzan traffic impact
The draft of a 2011 traffic impact analysis on Rouzan obtained by Daily Report shows that the planned traditional neighborhood development adjacent to Southdowns could make some of south Baton Rouge's most congested intersections even more gridlocked. Among the most adversely affected would be College/Lee Drive and Perkins Road, where the delay per vehicle during evening rush hour would increase from an average of 74.5 seconds—an E on the industry's A-F grading scale—to an average of 98.9 seconds, an F. However, Rouzan developer Tommy Spinosa says he is working with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development on several proposed improvements to the area that will mitigate Rouzan's impact on local traffic. "We will invest over half a million dollars on infrastructure improvements to address existing traffic congestion and mitigate the impact of new trips associated with Rouzan," Spinosa says. "This will include turn lanes on Perkins Road,...
Us and them
I couldn't hear a word she said, but the exaggerated arching of her lips and the violence of her hands spoke loudly enough.
Joe Breaux
“They needed someone to help it go from concept to product,” Breaux says. “Intuitively, the idea just made sense.”
EBR traffic backed up by start of school and Isaac effects
If your morning commute has been noticeably longer this week and you're wondering why, it's due to the hangover of Hurricane Isaac on the traffic light system and the unavoidable congestion that comes with the start of school. "Mostly it's school traffic," says city-parish traffic engineer Ingolf Partenheimer, noting that gridlock can increase 15% to 20% in the Capital Region each year when school begins. Add a traffic light system still destabilized from Isaac's winds, and the commute woes deepen. Partenheimer says that, for the 500 intersections in the area, about 400 cameras help keep traffic flowing. But all of them were potentially knocked out of synchronization by the storm. He says the engineering department has nine workers checking each camera to make sure they're pointing in the right direction. When the cameras are not pointed where they're supposed to be, the lights get out of sync. Green lights for left turns can get especially batty, Partenheimer says. "I've got...
Editor: Loop wouldn't have mitigated recent traffic nightmare
The pathetic state of what passes for a surface street grid in Baton Rouge was on full display Aug. 22 when a tanker truck leaking a toxic chemical not only closed Interstate 10 but effectively shut down much of the city, says Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball in his new column. "Absent I-10 to ferry commuters to their jobs, drivers had no choice but to use surface streets that were never designed to handle such volume. Which—as one might expect during a 20-minute commute that, on this day, lasted nearly four blood pressure–soaring hours—led to the invention of many new and colorful four-letter expletives to express the colossal exasperation that can only be experienced during a 60-minute, horn-honking, middle-finger-waving, inch-by-inch, quarter-mile crawl down Bluebonnet Boulevard," Ball writes. While many motorists who had a similar experience immediately took to their online social networks to vent their frustration and call for support of the...
Loop not the answer
The pathetic state of what passes for a surface street grid in Baton Rouge was on full display Aug. 22 when a tanker truck leaking a toxic chemical not only closed Interstate 10 but effectively shut down much of the city. Absent I-10 to ferry commuters to their jobs, drivers had no choice but to use surface streets that were never designed to handle such volume.
Taxi, please
The boat was school-bus yellow—a double-decker, too—and traffic wasn't even a glimmer of a thought.
News alert: I-10 westbound closed at the I-10/I-110 split
Interstate 10 West is closed at the I-10/I-110 split in Baton Rouge because of an overturned tractor trailer. Traffic is being diverted to I-110 North to U.S. 190 west to La. 415 south back to I-10 West. The truck was not carrying any hazardous chemicals, but clearing the accident could take several hours, a transportation department spokesman says.
What we learned from Carmageddon 2012
I hope everyone had a nice time driving around this past Wednesday. Hopefully you took time to smell the roses; lack of time was definitely not an excuse. So in case you somehow missed it, the Baton Rouge Metro area was treated to an interstate traffic disaster that pretty much shut down the Baton Rouge street grid. Pausing for a flipped over car on I-10 near Essen Lane, a semi-truck with a tanker load of isobutane was rammed by another semi-truck reportedly hauling beer causing a chemical spill. As such, one of the two primary arteries in the city (and the main route for interstate traffic to New Orleans) was shut down for just about 24 hours.
Interstate closure's effect on economy hard to quantify
Economists are not sure how much today's closure of Interstate 10 impacts the local economy. Productivity is lost when workers can't get to work on time, that's for sure. But how much business is actually lost is difficult to calculate for a variety of reasons. "It certainly has an impact for a day or so, but it's not going to kill the economy," LSU economist Jim Richardson says of today's interstate wreck, which snarled traffic across the parish throughout the day. While economists downplayed the economic impact, BRAC President/CEO Adam Knapp used the occasion to again champion the need for better planning in general—and for the long-discussed traffic loop, in particular. "Decades of bad planning haven't kept up with growth … and we're feeling the pain today," Knapp says. I-10 could possibly be closed through the night, officials say, which means the afternoon congestion is likely to be high. To help offset the gridlock, state employees who travel south from the downtown...
Traffic debacle underlines flaws in Capital Region transportation
Two of the Baton Rouge area's biggest transportation flaws were exposed again today: There's only one major traffic artery, and it happens to be the interstate. "We have a lack of redundancy in the system," says Ken Perret, a transportation civil engineer who is president of the Louisiana Good Roads and Transportation Association and a former federal and state transportation official. "We don't have good alternate routes." Perret says the city-parish has made progress through the Green Light Plan, but the region still has a long way to go "to develop parallel arteries to take the pressure off the interstate." At the state level, a steady funding stream would help in developing a long-range transportation plan, he says, noting that the gasoline tax has been frozen since the 1980s. "I don't think there is a short-term solution," says Rachel DiResto, executive vice president of the Center for Planning Excellence. The long-term solution, she says, is a better-connected street grid, as...
Interstate 10 closures could last all day
State police say the closures on Interstate 10 that have traffic jammed up across Baton Rouge could last all day, as crews work to remove isobutane that was spilled when several 18-wheelers and a car became tangled in accidents around 3:45 this morning. I-10 remains closed in both directions, between Essen Lane and Bluebonnet Boulevard, as of press time. The ramp from Interstate 12 west onto I-10 east is also closed. Police say the accident happened at Essen Lane when a car flipped. A tanker truck stopped for the accident and was rear-ended by another 18-wheeler. The tanker truck was carrying isobutane, which is similar to the propane used for barbecue grills. Troopers say the isobutane must be removed before the scene can be cleared. There were at least two injuries in the wreck.
Today's poll question: How long were you delayed in getting to work this morning?
Study: B.R. traffic ranks 11th-worst nationwide
The Friday evening commute in Baton Rouge is worse than it is in New Orleans, according to a study published Friday in Governing magazine. Baton Rouge is ranked 11th-worst out of 100 surveyed areas, with an average Friday evening commute 23% longer than its noncongested periods, according to the traffic research firm Inrix of Kirkland, Wash. That adds seven minutes to a trip that normally would require only 30, reports The Times-Picayune in a story on the report. Monday-through-Thursday commutes in Baton Rouge take almost 15% longer than at uncongested times, averaging four extra minutes, according to the data. The New Orleans area's typical Friday evening commute is almost 14% longer than off-peak times, according to Inrix. That adds about four minutes to the 30-minute commute. Monday-through-Thursday rush hour commutes in the New Orleans area take more than 9%, or almost three minutes, longer than in off-peak periods. To read the story in The Times-Picayune,...
Stalled progress
The antidote to Baton Rouge's traffic woes has been on the books for decades. It's called the Major Street Plan and is the backbone of the Green Light Plan, which has six projects under way and 26 already completed.
N.O. traffic cameras survive court battle
A federal court of appeals has ruled that New Orleans' automated traffic enforcement system ordinance is constitutional, reports The Wall Street Journal at its MarketWatch website. In doing so, the court found the city's interest in reducing traffic crashes outweighs the private interests of avoiding a fine. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals' decision affirmed a lower court's decision. Ruling on the class-action lawsuit brought against the city of New Orleans, the court found the city to be within its legal bounds to issue civil citations for traffic infractions caught on camera, and that the city's law did not violate the constitutional protection of due process. The court reached its decision by weighing private interests against government interests and found in favor of a city's broad ability to safeguard the public. To read the full report, click