More than 12,000 frustrated motorists from 13 states responded to billboards along Interstate 10 earlier this year asking them to take an online survey about I-10 traffic congestion in Baton Rouge.
Later this month, the results will be unveiled to the public at a series of meetings designed to gather still more feedback on suggestions for improving traffic along the I-10 corridor from La. 415 in West Baton Rouge to Essen Lane.
Four engineering firms and consultants Perry Franklin and Associates are conducting a series of surveys and collecting scientific data as part of a feasibility study for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development on the I-10 corridor. The feasibility study, which will be completed in spring 2016, will be used to determine whether a more in-depth planning study into specific projects and improvements should be conducted later next year.
“This is an extremely vital project and a lot of work has gone into it,” Franklin said this morning at a meeting of the Downtown Development District board of commissioners. “We are looking at all the projects in this region and we are hoping the public will come share their input.”
Though the feasibility study is merely a preliminary step in a process that would take years to complete, among the ideas on the table is a new Mississippi River bridge that would be located south of the city.
“The limiting factor to improving I-10 in Baton Rouge is the bridge so some of the stuff in the study will look at what would it take to put in a southern crossing across the river,” Franklin said. “We will share two scientific study and two nonscientific studies, including the poll from the billboard ads.”
DOTD launched the feasibility study about nine months ago. Baton Rouge-based Providence Engineering is heading the team of engineers working on the project. Other firms include Sigma Consulting, also of Baton Rouge, New Orleans-based Urban Systems and Nashville, Tennessee-based Bowlby and Associates.
The public meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 31, at the Baton Rouge River Center; Tuesday, Sept. 1, at the West Baton Rouge Community Center; and Thursday, Sept. 3, at the Crowne Plaza.
—Stephanie Riegel
