A lot of important decisions will be made in Baton Rouge over the next few months that will affect that future of the area for years to come, writes Business Report Editor Stephanie Riegel in her latest column.
Three distinct efforts are underway to address the area’s chronic gridlock, which is consistently ranked as the single biggest problem in the Capital Region.
“It’s important for these efforts to dovetail as much as possible if they are going to be successful,” Riegel writes. “For that to happen, however, a cynical population that has grown weary of talking about solutions that never materialize—and even wearier of taxes—is going to have to start paying close attention to what’s going on and get engaged.”
Of the efforts, one is the state’s $360 million project to widen Interstate 10 from the base of the Mississippi River Bridge to the I-10/I-12 split. Another is the creation of a five-parish Capital Region taxing authority that is gearing up to start identifying funding sources for a third bridge across the Mississippi River. And yet another is Mayor Sharon Weston Broome’s MoveBR plan, a proposed half-cent sales tax increase that would generate some $912 million for road and infrastructure improvements in East Baton Rouge Parish.
Taken alone, Riegel writes, any one of these efforts has the potential to improve the traffic congestion that ties up daily life and threatens to hamper regional economic development. But only if all three happen in concert will the area’s infrastructure needs be addressed in any sort of meaningful way.
“Is it too much to hope for?” Riegel asks.
At the moment, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of coordination among the efforts, she writes, and there are lots of questions and concerns—not only about some of the projects and their price tags but about hitting up voters with too many local or regional taxes.
“But then, what else is new?” Riegel asks.
Read the full column. Send comments to editor@businessreport.com
