TOWARD THE FINISH
Public, private projects expected to change BR’s landscape
During the coming year, 2012, a number of publicly funded construction projects are scheduled to be finished.
It’s a combination of roads, bridges, hospitals and buildings that amount to a huge makeover for the Baton Rouge area, particularly when added with projects finished in 2011 and those expected to be complete in 2013, officials say.
More than a dozen projects will be ready for use this year, including additional lanes on Interstate 12, a business education complex at LSU, and an expansion of South Harrell’s Ferry Road.
State government used money from traditional sources, such as the general fund and the capital outlay budget, but also got a boost from surplus dollars left over from the 2007 to 2009 budgets, as well as federal stimulus monies.
City-parish government added to its traditional funds in what was called the Green Light Plan, which is a series of road projects paid for with bonds secured with a half-cent sales tax.
Additionally, a series of privately funded projects, such as a new Woman’s Hospital campus and Galatoire’s Restaurant, are expected to open in 2012.
But the bulk of the work around Baton Rouge is roads paid for by taxpayers.
“Our whole goal is connectivity,” said William Daniel, public works director for East Baton Rouge Parish. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve left the office to go see my son’s baseball game, only to hit a huge amount of traffic congestion and get there in the third inning. We’re hoping to avoid that. We want to get people to their homes, to their families, to their events, without having to sit in a bunch of congestion. It’s a quality of life issue.”
“Like most of the arteries in Baton Rouge, after 3 o’clock you just don’t move” on Highland Road, said Carol Blasi, who lives on Woodleigh Drive, off Highland Road, sandwiched between two Green Light Plan projects. “It turned out very well, and it seemed that they did it in record time.”
Lauren Cooper, president of The Highlands Civic Association, said widening Highland Road from Perkins Road to Airline Highway has “been really great for our area, it plans for the future growth in the area, and traffic is moving well. It’s a real blessing.”
The most significant of the roads projects to be ready in 2012 is the addition of a lane to Interstate 12 from O’Neal Lane east to Juban Road in Livingston Parish. An average of 85,000 vehicles pass through that section of freeway on a typical day, according to traffic counts by the state Department of Transportation and Development.
DOTD Secretary Sherry LeBas said that section should be finished by mid-2012. The next section of I-12 widening, from Juban Road to Walker, already has begun and should be finished in 2013, she said.
Also under construction during 2012, but not to expected to be complete until 2013, is the $86 million project to widen I-10 from four to six lanes from the split to Siegen Lane. And the $60 million section doing the same widening between Siegen Lane and Highland Road should finish up in 2013, according to DOTD.
The state has spent about $554 million on roads projects in East Baton Rouge, Ascension, Livingston and West Baton Rouge parishes, LeBas said.
The money came from surplus dollars to the state budget in 2007, 2008 and 2009, when state government took in more revenue than it spent. The extra money was directed toward infrastructure projects, she said. Additionally, the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was aimed at helping state and local governments stave off the worst of the national recession that began in 2007, was added to the pot, she said.
Both sources of revenue were added to the regular spending set aside from the state general fund budget as well as the capital outlay or construction budget.
“When you have the dollars, you get those projects out quickly. And now they’re coming to completion,” LeBas said.
State Rep. Hunter Greene, who as chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means oversees the state’s construction budget, said Baton Rouge drivers should see fewer orange barrels on the interstate in 2012. “My focus has been on road projects that hopefully lead to less frustration for people in the capital region and people traveling through the capital area region,” said Greene, R-Baton Rouge.
For local government, 2011 saw a lot of the bigger projects completed, such as $21 million spent to widen Jones Creek Road and $23 million for additional lanes to Highland Road from Perkins Road to Airline Highway, said Michael Songy, CSRS project manager over the Green Light Plan.
Work will continue on many projects through 2012 and into 2013.
For instance, the first phase of the $60 million Central Thruway — paving from Florida Boulevard to the south approach of Sullivan Bayou Bridge — was completed in 2011. Road paving from Sullivan Bridge to Frenchtown Road then on to Greenwell Springs Road should be completed during 2012. But the Central Thruway won’t be completely finished until 2013.
“You’ll see some big projects open up in 2012.” Songy said.
For instance, the $3 million project at Sherwood Forest, which will expand South Harrell’s Ferry Road from a two-lane roadway with ditches to a five-lane expressway with gutter roadways and subsurface drainage systems, should be completed by the end of March. By the end of June, an additional project — costing $25 million — should add sidewalks and lanes on South Harrell’s Ferry Road from its Sherwood Forest intersection to Millerville Road.
The local projects are part of a $600 million Green Light Plan, which is being paid with a half-cent sales tax. So far, the city-parish has issued two bond sales, for $125 million and $110 million, to fund the projects. The city-parish is preparing to go after its third and final bond sale for $38 million in 2012.
The first two bond sales have allowed the city-parish to move efficiently through the list of projects, which have culminated with a very active construction schedule in 2011 and 2012, Songy said.
The main LSU campus also will have several new additions by the end of 2012.
The highlight is the new $52 million Business Education Complex that is expected to be finished as soon as February. “That’s a big, big, big one,” LSU Chancellor Michael Martin said.
Despite state budget cuts to LSU, Martin said, the university did line up several construction projects before the economy worsened that were able to take advantage of low construction costs. “Enrollment is up, so we know we need to have more space,” Martin said.
Drivers also will notice considerable construction on Essen Lane as Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center prepares to take over duties as the city’s primary source of health care for the poor and uninsured. Construction is under way for the Heart and Vascular Tower and a new Level I Trauma Center, which is an emergency room with specialized equipment and staff that will allow for nearly immediate treatment in life threatening situations. Construction should be complete in fall 2013.
“The Our Lady of the Lake Heart and Vascular Tower will aesthetically change the view of the hospital from Essen Lane but even more than that, it will bring an even higher level of care with access to the latest technology,” said Scott Wester, the Lake’s chief executive officer.
Jordan Blum, Michelle
Millhollon and Will Sentell of The Advocate’s Capitol news bureau contributed to this report.