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A Perkins underpass revitalization project years in the making is expected to finally break ground this summer.
That’s according to Jenni Peters, the founder and owner of Varsity Sports, who shared an update on the project with the Press Club of Baton Rouge on Monday.
The project will enhance landscaping, lighting and parking and see a new bike and pedestrian path installed, among other quality-of-life upgrades. The path will link Reymond Avenue to Christian Street. Learn more here.
“That area is a really emerging bar and restaurant district that people really love,” Peters said, “but the overpass has always been a barrier to connecting the Garden District and City Park [with it].”
The $2.2 million underpass revitalization project was first discussed in 2016 but has been held up by bureaucratic hurdles over the years.
In 2020, a handful of area business owners raised some $40,000 to fund a land survey and landscape plan showing what could be done to improve the thriving commercial district, and in 2023, the Metro Council approved a contract with Carbo Landscape Architecture for a comprehensive design of the project.
The last hurdle, according to Peters, is the construction of a new railroad crossing near Reymond Avenue in the area behind BLDG 5.
“Once that crossing gets built by the railroad, we’re ready to go,” she said.
The underpass revitalization project is one part of Envision Baton Rouge, a grassroots initiative spearheaded by Peters that’s aimed at identifying ways to improve Baton Rouge’s parks and walking paths. The other focus areas of Envision Baton Rouge are Brooks Park and City Park.
