Bluebonnet Boulevard—a state-owned roadway that forms much of the western boundary of St. George and is lined with commercial properties—is scheduled to be transferred in the coming weeks to East Baton Rouge Parish under the state’s road transfer program, a development that could have implications for St. George property owners seeking annexation into the city of Baton Rouge.
Though the timing of the Bluebonnet transfer is purely coincidental—the state program has been in the works for years—it comes as property owners in the proposed footprint of St. George are exploring and, in some cases, applying for annexation into Baton Rouge following the Oct. 12 vote creating the new city of St. George.
The road transfer is potentially significant because state law requires a property to be contiguous with the municipality into which it is seeking annexation. However, a provision in that same law, La. RS 33:180, also allows a public road, like Bluebonnet, to serve as a connector between a property and the municipality into which it is seeking annexation—even if the two are not immediately contiguous.
Though the state’s ownership of Bluebonnet would not have precluded property owners from seeking annexation under that provision of the law, city-parish ownership of the roadway will make it that much easier because it removes one hurdle, according to Charles Landry, an attorney representing several property owners in the footprint of St. George, who are seeking annexation into Baton Rouge.
“The obstacle of trying to annex a state highway is that you have to get the state’s permission,” Landry says. “You can have an additional step that requires DOTD approval. When you have a city-parish road, you can use it to access a piece of property to be annexed.”
The state road transfer program has been in the works since 2016, when the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development began trying to “right size” its ownership of state highways, then at 27%, and bring it more in line with the national average of 19%.
Under the terms of the program, the state agreed to complete repairs and improvements to major roadways, like Bluebonnet, before turning them over to local governments.
Upgrades to Bluebonnet are scheduled to be completed Friday, according to a DOTD spokesman, who says the actual transfer should be completed about 30 days after that.
A St. George spokesman says he doesn’t understand the sudden interest in annexation in the city of Baton Rouge and warns it will create a checkerboard effect in southeast East Baton Rouge Parish that could hamper the delivery of services.
“Why is Baton Rouge so wonderful to annex into? You’re going to pay higher property taxes on the very first day,” says attorney and spokesman Drew Murrell. “And the checkerboard effect will create a nightmare for servicing agencies.”
