The Downtown Development District and city Department of Public Works are launching an outreach campaign to educate the public about two major street changes, including one that goes into effect this weekend.
On Saturday and Sunday, St. Louis Street in downtown will be converted from a northbound one-way street to a two-way street. The following weekend, St. Ferdinand Street will convert from a south-bound one-way street to two-way configuration. St. Louis Street turns into Nicholson Drive south of Interstate 10, and St. Ferdinand turns into Highland Road.
The changes are referred to as the Two-Way Project and were outlined in Plan Baton Rouge I and II. They are intended to provide a better connection from LSU’s campus to downtown while reducing traffic through Beauregard Town. An additional benefit is that the new street flow will improve access to the River Center parking garages, which will now be accessible from three entrances instead of two.
“It’s going to take some time and some getting used to, but it’s going to be so much better,” says DDD Executive Director Davis Rhorer. “It will eliminate the bottlenecks going into the River Center.”
Currently, River Center traffic backs up on Government Street during major events. With traffic on St. Ferdinand and St. Louis flowing in two directions, drivers will be able to access the garages from the north as well as from the south, which Davis says is expected to reduce congestion.
To make sure the public is aware of the changes, DDD and DPW officials are doing news media interviews, public service announcements, signage and spreading the word on social media platforms.
—Stephanie Riegel
