BusinessReport.com

The area around the Perkins Road overpass is one of the most unique and beloved business districts in Baton Rouge. In a city where chain stores dominate the retail landscape, it’s home to a variety of locally owned businesses that cater to the tree-lined neighborhoods nearby, including the Garden District, Southdowns and Hundred Oaks.

Some of the most popular restaurants and taverns in Baton Rouge are located in the area, along with a bookstore, pharmacy and even a yoga studio. The area is also home for the annual Wearin’ of the Green St. Patrick’s Day parade, an event that attracts thousands of visitors.

But plans to rehabilitate the Perkins Road overpass could have a major effect on the business community.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development plans to use about $2 million in federal funds to fix the bridge, which was built in 1937.

The work would involve rebuilding the approaches and sidewalks to the bridge, along with redoing the decking and putting decks back on bearings. This is the first major repair to the bridge since the late 1970s and early 1980s, says Jim Ferguson, the city-parish drainage and bridge engineer. According to Ferguson, the work is 80% structural and 20% cosmetic.

The timetable calls to put the project out for bid in September, with work starting by the end of the year or in January. The proposal is to keep the bridge closed for 18 weeks, Ferguson says. While that may seem like a long time to those who depend on the overpass regularly, if the bridge was actually being replaced, the area would be closed off for a year or two.

“This issue has been around for a decade,” says Ferguson. “The business owners, the residents know that this work has to take place.”

The section of Perkins around the overpass would be closed and through traffic from the east will be detoured down Acadian Thruway to Hundred Oaks.

The DOTD and city-parish have started to get the word out about the bridge closing by holding a recent public meeting at the City Park Art Gallery. The DOTD and city-parish have started to get the word out about the bridge closing, by holding a recent public meeting at the City Park Art Gallery. At the meeting, nearby residents expressed concern that the overpass work would cause traffic to detour through their neighborhoods. City-parish officials say temporary speed bumps and police detours would be used to keep speeding vehicles out of quiet subdivisions, but there are no plans to close Christian Street, which could be used with East Lakeshore Drive as a detour to Perkins Road, as could several other connector routes through nearby neighborhoods.

Businesses around the overpass agree with the need to fix the bridge, but they’re unsure how much of an impact the closure will have on them.

Cliff Boulden, manager of Bet-R, which is right by the overpass, says neighborhood customers are familiar enough with the streets so they know alternative ways of getting to his grocery store. “Depending on how they re-direct traffic, it may even help us some,” he says.

But Boulden says if the bridge work is “messy,” it could hurt business. “If they’re having to take stuff out of the bridge and blocking the road, it may deter some people,” he says. “We won’t figure out how this will affect us until we see all of the plans.”

Anna Frey, manager of the Royal Standard, an antique and interior design store at the foot of the bridge, says she hasn’t heard too much about the bridge repair, such as how much of the area will be closed.

Frey says she’s a little concerned about the plans to close the bridge at the end of the year, because it could cut into Christmas shopping at the Royal Standard.

Pat Shingleton also doesn’t know how the bridge work will affect the St. Patrick’s Day parade, which he heads up. The parade ends at the overpass and even if the bridge work starts at the beginning of December, the March 14 event still falls in the 18-week time frame.

“If they start dismantling that bridge, the parade route will be compromised,” he says. Alternative routes are being considered, but Shingleton says he’ll wait and see what plans the city and state put forth before making a decision.

The business that will feel the most impact from the overpass work is Chelsea’s Café, a popular restaurant and live music venue. Chelsea’s sits right by the bridge and the club uses the area under the overpass for customer parking.

Dave Remmetter, owner of Chelsea’s Café, says he’s heard he will temporarily lose parking spots because of the work. Remmetter jokes that the work won’t be completed in four or five months, because road projects always take twice as long as originally planned.

Remmetter says he doesn’t know what will happen to his business if the overpass is closed for several months and customers have a hard time getting to the club or parking. Chelsea’s moved underneath the overpass a little over two years ago and he’ll be through paying off the move in a year.

That’s one of the reasons why Remmetter would like to see the work postponed until after St. Patrick’s Day, which is a big moneymaking day for businesses around the overpass, thanks to the annual parade and all the parties that go along with it.

“That would give the businesses here one last big blowout to live off of,” he says. Not only that, but the road work would be done in the spring and early summer, when the weather is better and there’s more daylight for crews to work under.

Despite his concerns, Remmetter says there’s no disagreeing that the bridge needs to be replaced.

“They’ve been needing to fix that bridge since I was a kid,” he says. “You don’t have to be an engineer to see that.”