Letters: We must build traffic loop

Baton Rouge’s traffic problem is much like the weather, everybody talks about it but no one does anything about it. It doesn’t have to be that way.

The worst part of the problem is the routing of Interstate 10/12 traffic through the city. Part of the problem has been eased by providing a dedicated traffic lane for the eastbound I-10 traffic. There is also discouragement, as the solution required only paint on the pavement and it took two years to implement once the idea surfaced. Widening I-12 and the coming widening of I-10 will help for a time when there are no nonroutine events. The leaking tanker incident and Hurricane Isaac have reminded Baton Rouge residents that there is a serious flaw in the city’s traffic plan: there is only one way in and one way out.

Baton Rouge needs a half-circle south loop, similar to the ones in Shreveport and Lake Charles, that will take the traffic connecting to/from New Orleans on I-10 and points east on I-12 out of the city. The loop should start at I-10 on the west side of the Mississippi River and curve south to connect with I-10 south of Baton Rouge and then to I-12 east of Denham Springs.

The optimal routing is to come off I-10 in the area of La. 415 and continuing south to the point where it would cross the Mississippi River near Addis and continue on to connect with I-10 south of Baton Rouge in the vicinity of the parish line. The loop should then be routed eastward and connect to I-12 east of Denham Springs. This results in the shortest route available and it is attractive to trucks, which will use it instead of sitting in traffic in the center of Baton Rouge whether they are connecting to New Orleans on I-10 or east on I-12.

Alternatives to the suggestions have come forward that are less comprehensive and are based on perceived cost and political considerations. These are partial solutions to solving the whole problem. Even if effective, it would provide no relief for New Orleans-bound traffic.

The cost of a new bridge crossing the Mississippi River is cited as making a new south loop impossible. A new bridge crossing at St. Francisville has already been constructed. Major benefits from a south loop are numerous. They include improved traffic flow and reduced travel times. There would be reduced gasoline consumption and automobile-linked air pollution.

Is it possible to solve a problem in Louisiana by a cause-and-effect and cost/benefit analysis for the benefit of citizens? This answer also determines whether we can be a new Louisiana or remain the old Louisiana that is the laughingstock of the country.

Allen Williams

retIred chemical engineer/stock trader

Baton Rouge

Comments

1) Comment by jwhitemd - 17/09/2012

Sir, you are obviously a southern gentleman with great intelligence, vision, future-vision, and leadership skills. Your words resonate with humble citizens such as myself. Your vision of the future is astounding, and I applaud your words of such great wisdom. Would that our society had more men such as yourself in positions of power, for if that were the case, we would be years ahead of our paltry present position. Could I implore you to seek the power of political office? For the salvation and the future of us, the simple people. Dominus vobiscum.

2) Comment by phil - 17/09/2012

Moving everyone downtown will not work either. We have a population that works a lot at chemical plants etc. So let's move all of the chemical plants downtown so everyone can walk to work? Then wait for that big bang to blow up the entire downtown area? Actually I think it was a bad idea to move all of the state and other buildings downtown and force everyone to drive to that part of Baton Rouge to begin with. The idea of everyone moving into the urban downtown area and riding bikes or walking to work sounds good, but it will not work. Besides if everyone moves downtown where will all of that sewerage go to now that the Central treatment plant will be eliminated? I guess smart growth is pretty smart after all. Pump that stink from downtown to the south and to the suburbs to get rid of it? Pretty smart.

3) Comment by nimby? - 17/09/2012

staggered school startings would mean fewer school buses on the road , more manageable to working parents . the option of an 8 to 3 or 9 to 4 class day at the same school would also ease overcrowded classrooms , suggested this a long time ago ....

4) Comment by Attila - 17/09/2012

Here we go again...loop...loop...loop. Build a loop and all will be right with the world....WRONG! IF a loop could solve the traffic problems in B. R., which it can't because three quarters of the traffic on the interstates is LOCAL. Bighug go it right...more attention to surface streets, not only in B. R., but also in the surrounding parishes is the answer. A loop constructed as a proposed Public Private Partnership (PPP) only guarantees that the private part of the partnership profits, while the public pays and pays. The taxpayers will get saddled with the required "gap funding" that will be required to make up the difference in what the tolls generate and the profits that are guaranteed to the "investors".....and even if this 85 to 105 mile fantasy could be built and paid for, the state, read taxpayers, will never get title to the road. It stays with the "investors" in perpetuity. Not a bad deal for the "private partners; they are guaranteed a 12% return on investment which will give them a 30 billion plus profit on a 5 billion investment, and they keep the road forever. Even Kip Holden state on TV that a loop would have had a negligible effect on the traffic gridlock that occurred due to the propane tanker episode, and event that has happened only once since the interstates were built. DMJ and I rarely agree on anything, but he is right about finding ways to get traffic off of ALL roads. Perhaps all of the supporters of the Dowtown Development District can put some of their misplaced energy into finding a way to get all of the people who they are courting back to downtown efficiently without using cars...now that would be something.

5) Comment by phil - 17/09/2012

nimby: not a bad idea to stagger working hours and maybe school hours if that could be worked out. BR mainly has big traffic problems during rush hours and the rest of the day traffic is at least reasonable in most cases.

6) Comment by phil - 17/09/2012

If we ever really built a traffic loop, that would put all of the planners and engineers (and politicians?) who do continuous work on the loop project out of work, so actually building a loop is a really bad idea. In order to keep the tax money flowing to the select few, we need to continue planning on a loop that 3 parishes have already stated they do not want. (sarcasm in case you did not notice.) How about a west bank bypass? The real solution for BR might be to completely bypass Baton Rouge with the Interstate system and then make I-10, I-12 and I-110 local highways that connect only to maybe Denham Springs and Gonzales etc. How many other cities have built loops that after a few years are more congested than the main routes? When I drive through Houston, for example, I wait until the traffic is light and then I drive straight through on I-10. One thing Baton Rouge needs are some local roads that do not have traffic lights on them every 1000 feet. Bad local traffic engineering is a big problem, in my opinion.

7) Comment by nimby? - 17/09/2012

few common sense suggestions ; four day work week , 10 hour day is more productive . staggered work days , times . there is no law saying the work week has to be monday to friday , 9 to 5 . entice those who moved away to return by fixing what is wrong , win/win for B.R. , improves the city while returning its' tax base ....

8) Comment by dmr0601 - 17/09/2012

So you want to reduce traffic by encouraging people to drive more?

9) Comment by nimby? - 17/09/2012

Shreveport has three loops . I have a theory ; the further away from New Orleans , the smarter you become , the closer , and ....

10) Comment by DMJ - 17/09/2012

More lanes, more roads....they'll only cause more traffic. Ways to reduce driving should at least be part of the conversation. So far...that's not happening.

11) Comment by [e-mail] - 17/09/2012

Anybody who has come into or out of Baton Rouge on the I-10 bridge on a Friday evening ought to have a vote.

12) Comment by tradewinns - 17/09/2012

bighug, how cynical, and true.

13) Comment by Bighug - 17/09/2012

People aren't laughing at us because we don't have a loop. Look at the comic strip "Doonesbury" for 9/16/12. When travelling, do you take loops around cities? I rarely do, but when I do, I find little traffic on them. Better than go to the cost of buying up developed property for a loop, why not improve and widen existing roads to provide alternate routes across the city? Probably because that wouldn't entail enough money changing hands through politics.