BusinessReport.com

At least three major property owners along Interstate 10 are hoping for some traffic adjustments between Siegen Lane and Bluebonnet Boulevard that will help their businesses. Proponents say the changes would also improve traffic flow for the rest of us, but the devil is in the details.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana would like to see Reitz Avenue extended into the westbound frontage road. Developers Garry and Lanny Lewis want to link South Reitz Avenue and North Reiger Road, then connect directly to the westbound frontage road. And Richard Carmouche hopes to tie in his new high-density traditional neighborhood development to the eastbound frontage road.

At a July 23 meeting in the office of Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Johnny Bradberry, city-parish and state officials agreed, in principle, that having more tie-ins is a good idea.

Bradbury and Mayor Kip Holden instructed engineers on both sides to get together as soon as possible to find common ground on the technical issues and come up with a workable plan that could then be presented to the Federal Highway Administration (a date for that meeting has not been set). Holden describes the process as a “careful balancing act” where public safety, economic development and the overall flow of traffic all have to be considered.

The frontage roads run parallel to Interstate 10 between Bluebonnet and Siegen, providing access to the Picardy Avenue exit and a way to travel alongside the interstate while having the option of not actually getting onto the highway. In theory, the tie-ins would allow better access to I-10, spreading out the traffic and alleviating congestion at existing access points. Holden and DOTD agree it’s premature to say how many new connections can be made.

“Any access point is a potential collision point,” DOTD spokesman Mark Lambert says. Although the frontage roads are not technically part of the interstate, people drive on them like they are—that is, at 60 mph, he says.

Lambert says Bradberry likes to promote economic development when possible, as long as it can be done safely and fairly.

“What’s to stop another development from coming in and saying, ‘How about an access point for us, too?’” Lambert asks.

Any access points that are approved would be from public streets. Unlike DOTD, the Federal Highway Administration does not take economic benefits into consideration when making project decisions, according to an FHWA spokesman, except in the broader sense that a smooth-running highway system obviously benefits the economy as a whole.

In a prepared statement, Blue Cross Blue Shield expressed support for a tie-in from Reitz Avenue to the I-10 frontage road. The company says a new access point would help the 1,500 people who work there and the adjacent neighborhoods by providing another link to Bluebonnet other than Blue Cross Parkway and an additional exit route in an evacuation.

If the access is approved, Blue Cross Blue Shield has offered to make four other improvements to the Bluebonnet corridor on its own: extending the southbound right-turn lane from Bluebonnet to westbound I-10, adding an additional through lane on the westbound frontage road at the intersection with Bluebonnet, improving the southbound left-hand turn lane from Bluebonnet to I-10 east and adding another lane from Blue Cross Parkway at the intersection with Bluebonnet.

Carmouche of Carmouche Construction Co. is developing The Grove, which he describes as a high-density TND. While not getting the access point won’t stop him from going forward, it could make the site more attractive to potential tenants and, he says, help improve traffic flow in the area by giving drivers more options.

The Lewis brothers own about 65 acres along westbound I-10 just west of Siegen Village Shopping Center. The land is for sale through Donnie Jarreau Real Estate, although Garry Lewis says they are also developing a concept for a possible project that he calls Siegen Lake Office Plaza.

Lewis would like to extend South Reitz Avenue, which juts out to the west from Siegen north of Siegen Village and have it curve south and connect with North Reiger Road, which runs along westbound I-10 in front of the old UA Siegen Village 10 theater, then provide access to the frontage road. At the present time, both roads terminate inside Lewis’ property.

Lewis says his idea would benefit his property by directing more traffic through it, while giving the general public an alternate route and diverting traffic from the I-10/Siegen intersection.

“We would give them the right-of-way and build the road,” Lewis says. “All we want is the right to tie in.”