Gov. Bobby Jindal might not want to take federal funds to build a commuter rail line between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, but that doesn’t mean local leaders aren’t going train spotting.
Following the 2010 passage of the Louisiana Intrastate Rail Compact by the Louisiana Legislature, the Metro Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution to authorize East Baton Rouge Parish to join New Orleans—and parishes in between—in a commuter-rail agreement and name local representatives to the board.
Board members now include Councilman Joel Boé; John Price, assistant chief administrative officer in the mayor’s office; Cheri Morial Ausberry, vice president of community development banking at Capital One; and Cornelius Lewis, chief executive officer of Gulf Coast BIDCO.
“My dad had a dream of this, years ago, before he was mayor,” says Ausberry, whose father, Ernest “Dutch” Morial, was mayor of New Orleans from 1978 to 1986.
When Jindal in 2009 turned down $300 million in federal funding for commuter rail, he reasoned that ongoing annual maintenance costs would be $18 million. But last May, the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Planning Organization approved spending $105,000 in federal money for a feasibility study of a rail line anyway.
The New Orleans Metropolitan Planning Organization and BRAF later both announced they are matching the expenditure with $105,000 and $90,000, respectively.
“It’s serious now,” Ausberry says.
Boé says he was asked to participate in the committee that will study the feasibility of building passenger rail that would connect Louisiana’s major cities.
“This is where the train hits the track,” Boé says.
Ausberry and Boé say each parish that the commuter rail line would traverse has about four people on the board representing their communities, but they do not yet know who those people are. The Louisiana Speaks master plan, following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, first concluded the importance of building a commuter rail.
If built, the rail would not be high speed—100 mph or faster—but about 80 mph. A 2009 study of rail service suggested a downtown station on either Government Street or Florida Boulevard, and possibly stations in the southeast part of the parish, Gonzales, LaPlace, Kenner and downtown New Orleans.
Editor’s note: A story that was published in Daily Report PM on Monday incorrectly identified Marc Morial as the father of Cheri Morial Ausberry. Marc Morial is her brother. Ausberry’s father is Ernest “Dutch” Morial. Ausberry is also no longer chairwoman of the Downtown Development District. Daily Report regrets the errors.
