I49 in LA

Started by rte66man, July 14, 2010, 06:52:15 PM

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jbnv

#1375
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on March 12, 2019, 05:57:06 PM
Quote from: jbnv on March 12, 2019, 10:26:47 AM
yet there's absolutely no way to use new surveillance technology to reduce other forms of crime today.)

Go ask the UK how well that surveillance state is working for them.

I don't have to. I got to pay for my ex-wife's craziness.

(Do you know the difference between something being possible and something being misused?)
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mvak36

https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2019/06/04/breaking-shreveports-49-loop-set-100-m-infusion/1340389001/

QuoteBATON ROUGE – Shreveport's Interstate 49 inner city connector project is teed up for a $100 million cash infusion in a surprise bill that secured final passage here Tuesday.

"It's huge for us," said Sen. Barrow Peacock, R-Bossier City.

House Bill 578 by Rep. Tanner Magee, R-Houma, had initially included $275 million for two road projects, but it expanded to $690 million for 10 key infrastructure projects throughout the state as it moved through the Legislature.

"This is the bill of the session," said Sen. Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. "It's like opening packages at Christmas."

Lawmakers are financing the projects with $700 million the state secured in the settlement for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill.

Though the state receives the money in annual payments of $53 million, the projects could be bonded out to begin work almost immediately.

The bill now heads to Gov. John Bel Edwards' desk for his signature

I-49 South in Lafayette is also mentioned in this article as receiving funding.
QuoteAcadiana/Lafayette: Interstate 49 South, $150 million;
Counties: Counties visited
Travel Mapping: Summary

Anthony_JK

As per the $150 million earmarked for I-49 South.....I'm guessing that that will be used to get some federal funding to build the Ambassador Caffery Parkway South interchange and extend the one-way frontage road system from the newly completed Albertson's Parkway/St. Nazaire Road overpass/interchange south through the LA 182/BNSF RR overpass. (The frontage roads will be grade separated from the rail line, just like the US 90 mainlines.) It could also be used to fund replacing that last at-grade railroad crossing of US 90 near Jeanerette with a pipeline/culvert crossing under an elevated embankment, although I saw that funding had already been secured for that project through other sources.

I'm hoping that they could also squeeze some cash to completing the I-49 Lafayette Connector engineering and CSS/Supplemental EIS processes, so that they can get to actually getting real funding to build that project later on.

But, slow but steady progress, I guess.

Gordon

I saw on LaDOTD that the 30 million job for the railroad project that was scheduled for July was pulled from their future bid Schedule. And a news article said after A 18 wheel truck wreck that one person died in  that they are studying that project further on which way to do it, pipe line underneath or bridges. Maybe that will be a priority get that done

Anthony_JK

If it's being pulled from the main bidding now, that probably means that it will be funded directly from this bill, and that rebidding will commence soon.


They have committed to the pipeline option, since that would be cheaper and less liability costs for the sugar/molasses processing plant, and would eliminate both the mainlane and frontage road railroad crossings. The railroad would be truncated just north(east) of the crossing, and the pipeline would serve to distribute the byproducts from the plant to a holding tank that would load the railcars.

MaxConcrete

I drove the corridor from New Orleans (I-310) to Lafayette last week.

There is no construction in progress. It looks like wire rope barrier installation completed very recently on sections on the eastern side of corridor.

I came through the area mid afternoon on Thursday, and the traffic lights through Lafayette were well synchronized so I moved through surprisingly quickly. But I'm thinking there could be long delays at peak periods.

Due to the sheer amount of work needed in Lafayette, my perception is that the full conversion to Interstate standards is going to cost at least $1 billion, probably much more considering some older sections east of Lafayette are in poor condition and need to be rebuilt.

My main observation is that the number of billboards along the corridor for injury/accident lawyers is beyond ridiculous! I'm thinking around 200-400 lawyer billboards. I don't remember anywhere near this many billboards on a trip about 4-5 years ago. The Gordon McKernan guy is especially egregrious with his billboard proliferation. At one point there are at least 5 identical billboards for him all bunched together. Is this area of Louisiana a hotbed for litigation and big jury awards? Is a lot of the litigation related to the offshore and marine industry? (One lawyer seemed to specialize in "maritime accidents".)
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Bobby5280

I was under the impression the federal government and/or most states had some limits on how many billboards could be installed along a US or Interstate highway. As in one billboard per minimum of so and such many feet before another one could be erected. I think the Lady Bird Johnson Highway Beautification Act in the late 1960's put really serious limits on billboard numbers. I can remember when I was a kid seeing things like a single ad spread along a dozen or more small billboards, spelling out sentences and what not. Some of it was charming but a bunch of it was just AWFUL CLUTTER.

Here in Oklahoma I still see quite a lot of billboard clutter on tribe-owned lands. For example, the end of one segment of the H.E. Bailey Turnpike (I-44) near the Medicine Park exit. The West side of the highway lined with a bunch of double stack and/or 4-stack billboards on I-Beams. It looks like hell. Worse yet many of the billboard ads are poorly designed. So that adds to the clutter.

I'm a sign guy, but I worry about various kinds of businesses pushing their luck by throwing up as much clutter as they can get away with installing. I worry about it causing a big backlash. The backlash could whip around and hurt my business. People have to act with some responsibility and tasteful restraint.

If I saw an entire string of billboards advertising some ambulance chasing lawyer I would instantly know which attorney NOT to hire in case I was in a bad fender bender.

vdeane

There are, but I assume such limits don't apply on reservations.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

jbnv

Louisiana is the most friendly state for personal injury lawyers. I'm not sure what return McKernan gets from making an ass of himself, but apparently he's profiting from it. It's election year in Louisiana and I can only hope that the voters will finally say enough is enough--but I'm not holding my breath.
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Urban Prairie Schooner

Quote from: MaxConcrete on June 14, 2019, 04:11:44 PM
I drove the corridor from New Orleans (I-310) to Lafayette last week.

There is no construction in progress. It looks like wire rope barrier installation completed very recently on sections on the eastern side of corridor.

I came through the area mid afternoon on Thursday, and the traffic lights through Lafayette were well synchronized so I moved through surprisingly quickly. But I'm thinking there could be long delays at peak periods.

Due to the sheer amount of work needed in Lafayette, my perception is that the full conversion to Interstate standards is going to cost at least $1 billion, probably much more considering some older sections east of Lafayette are in poor condition and need to be rebuilt.

My main observation is that the number of billboards along the corridor for injury/accident lawyers is beyond ridiculous! I'm thinking around 200-400 lawyer billboards. I don't remember anywhere near this many billboards on a trip about 4-5 years ago. The Gordon McKernan guy is especially egregrious with his billboard proliferation. At one point there are at least 5 identical billboards for him all bunched together. Is this area of Louisiana a hotbed for litigation and big jury awards? Is a lot of the litigation related to the offshore and marine industry? (One lawyer seemed to specialize in "maritime accidents".)

Welcome to Louisiana, where we are known as a "judicial hellhole" because of stupid tort laws which favor personal injury lawsuits. The billboards are a real quality of life issue here; even a current gubernatorial candidate made mention of it.

I wonder if Mckernan wants to be governor or something. Only thing that can explain the # of billboards.

abqtraveler

Quote from: Urban Prairie Schooner on July 14, 2019, 10:17:18 PM
Quote from: MaxConcrete on June 14, 2019, 04:11:44 PM
I drove the corridor from New Orleans (I-310) to Lafayette last week.

There is no construction in progress. It looks like wire rope barrier installation completed very recently on sections on the eastern side of corridor.

I came through the area mid afternoon on Thursday, and the traffic lights through Lafayette were well synchronized so I moved through surprisingly quickly. But I'm thinking there could be long delays at peak periods.

Due to the sheer amount of work needed in Lafayette, my perception is that the full conversion to Interstate standards is going to cost at least $1 billion, probably much more considering some older sections east of Lafayette are in poor condition and need to be rebuilt.

My main observation is that the number of billboards along the corridor for injury/accident lawyers is beyond ridiculous! I'm thinking around 200-400 lawyer billboards. I don't remember anywhere near this many billboards on a trip about 4-5 years ago. The Gordon McKernan guy is especially egregrious with his billboard proliferation. At one point there are at least 5 identical billboards for him all bunched together. Is this area of Louisiana a hotbed for litigation and big jury awards? Is a lot of the litigation related to the offshore and marine industry? (One lawyer seemed to specialize in "maritime accidents".)

Welcome to Louisiana, where we are known as a "judicial hellhole" because of stupid tort laws which favor personal injury lawsuits. The billboards are a real quality of life issue here; even a current gubernatorial candidate made mention of it.

I wonder if Mckernan wants to be governor or something. Only thing that can explain the # of billboards.

I'm spending the week in Shreveport on a business trip and I also noticed all the billboards around here advertising for one law firm after the next.  And I thought New Mexico was bad for being a sue-crazy state, looks like Louisiana outdoes New Mexico in that category.

That aside, I did drive the new stretch of I-49 from Shreveport to Texarkana last week. The Arkansas portion is very nicely done, but the Louisiana portion is already showing signs of deterioration after only a few years of being open: the concrete pavent is spalling in places and they've already had to make patches and repairs in places. Speaks a lot about how Louisiana manages tje quality of its road projects.
2-d Interstates traveled:  4, 5, 8, 10, 15, 20, 24, 25, 27, 29, 35, 39, 40, 41, 43, 45, 49, 55, 57, 64, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 76(E), 77, 78, 81, 83, 84(W), 85, 87(N), 89, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95

2-d Interstates Clinched:  12, 22, 30, 37, 44, 59, 80, 84(E), 86(E), 238, H1, H2, H3, H201

MikieTimT

Quote from: abqtraveler on July 16, 2019, 08:15:03 AM
I'm spending the week in Shreveport on a business trip and I also noticed all the billboards around here advertising for one law firm after the next.  And I thought New Mexico was bad for being a sue-crazy state, looks like Louisiana outdoes New Mexico in that category.

That aside, I did drive the new stretch of I-49 from Shreveport to Texarkana last week. The Arkansas portion is very nicely done, but the Louisiana portion is already showing signs of deterioration after only a few years of being open: the concrete pavent is spalling in places and they've already had to make patches and repairs in places. Speaks a lot about how Louisiana manages tje quality of its road projects.

Arkansas does new construction well and maintenance poorly.  No glory in taking care of what you already got I guess.

Gordon

Is the US 90 Albertsons PKWY to Ambassador Caffery project south of Lafayette complete or still finishing up? It was projected to be finished this past spring.

Anthony_JK

Quote from: Gordon on July 19, 2019, 12:07:56 PM
Is the US 90 Albertsons PKWY to Ambassador Caffery project south of Lafayette complete or still finishing up? It was projected to be finished this past spring.

The Albertson's Parkway overpass/interchange and mainline US 90 overpass over the BNSF/UP mainline is complete and open to traffic. The phase where they extend the frontage roads over the railroad is still under construction, and probably won't be fully completed until they find funding and begin constructing the Ambassador Caffery Parkway South interchange with US 90. There is also a phase where they extend frontage roads north of Albertson's Parkway along US 90 to the proposed Verot School Road interchange, but that is further down the road pending funding and construction of the Verot School Road overpass. They also will have to make a decision on what to do with the proposed Southpark Road (LA 89) interchange.

jbnv

I've already driven over the new overpass.
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Bobby5280

Google Earth imagery of the I-49/I-220 interchange is still from April of 2018. But they do have new Street View imagery (March, April & May 2019) of movements through the interchange. The big looping flyover ramp shows a lot of flooding near the road.

Aside from how well Louisiana maintains its roads, I think it's kind of impressive they built this new interchange using more state of the art (and elegant looking) cast-segmental methods on the flyover ramps than the more crude looking methods seen all over Texas. The only bad thing about this interchange is it's missing a WB I-220 to NB I-49 ramp. I wonder if that ramp would be added (with all the other additional ramps) once I-49 is extended South through the interchange toward downtown.

cjk374

Quote from: Bobby5280 on July 20, 2019, 02:45:36 PM
The only bad thing about this interchange is it's missing a WB I-220 to NB I-49 ramp. I wonder if that ramp would be added (with all the other additional ramps) once I-49 is extended South through the interchange toward downtown.

There is a WB -> NB ramp at this interchange. It and the EB -> NB ramps are built with a stub that is ready to connect to the ICC when it is built.
Runnin' roads and polishin' rails.

roadman65

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/albums/72157635265627400

Here are some photos I have of that said interchange. Though not the ramp being talked about, I do have photos of the signage of the interchange going SB on I-49.  Right now transitional signage is in place directing the through I-49 traffic for Alexandria and beyond to use I-220 W Bound to either LA 3142 or I-20 via large panels on the overhead at the Exit 210 Split.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

wdcrft63

Quote from: Anthony_JK on July 19, 2019, 01:20:18 PM
Quote from: Gordon on July 19, 2019, 12:07:56 PM
Is the US 90 Albertsons PKWY to Ambassador Caffery project south of Lafayette complete or still finishing up? It was projected to be finished this past spring.

The Albertson's Parkway overpass/interchange and mainline US 90 overpass over the BNSF/UP mainline is complete and open to traffic. The phase where they extend the frontage roads over the railroad is still under construction, and probably won't be fully completed until they find funding and begin constructing the Ambassador Caffery Parkway South interchange with US 90. There is also a phase where they extend frontage roads north of Albertson's Parkway along US 90 to the proposed Verot School Road interchange, but that is further down the road pending funding and construction of the Verot School Road overpass. They also will have to make a decision on what to do with the proposed Southpark Road (LA 89) interchange.
Is this the only project on I-49 South actually under construction?

Anthony_JK

Quote from: wdcrft63 on August 06, 2019, 07:00:36 PM
Quote from: Anthony_JK on July 19, 2019, 01:20:18 PM
Quote from: Gordon on July 19, 2019, 12:07:56 PM
Is the US 90 Albertsons PKWY to Ambassador Caffery project south of Lafayette complete or still finishing up? It was projected to be finished this past spring.

The Albertson's Parkway overpass/interchange and mainline US 90 overpass over the BNSF/UP mainline is complete and open to traffic. The phase where they extend the frontage roads over the railroad is still under construction, and probably won't be fully completed until they find funding and begin constructing the Ambassador Caffery Parkway South interchange with US 90. There is also a phase where they extend frontage roads north of Albertson's Parkway along US 90 to the proposed Verot School Road interchange, but that is further down the road pending funding and construction of the Verot School Road overpass. They also will have to make a decision on what to do with the proposed Southpark Road (LA 89) interchange.
Is this the only project on I-49 South actually under construction?

As of right now, yes....though work is currently ongoing on a minor project to remove some at-grade crossovers on US 90 in Iberia Parish near Jeanerette in order to make that section truly Interstate freeway grade.

Also, work should begin soon, as soon as the final engineering finishes, on the elimination of that at-grade rail spur crossing south of the LA 668 interchange. It's being replaced by a pipeline which would serve a sugar processing plant that would cross underneath the elevated US 90 mainline and frontage roads.

Anthony_JK

Update:

The Albertson's Parkway/St. Nazaire Road interchange/overpass at US 90 is officially completed as of yesterday. The "ribbon cutting" was held there Monday.

https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/news/2019/08/26/gov-john-bel-edwards-cuts-ribbon-albertson-parkway-widening-louisiana-project-interstate-49-south/2123593001/

Also...the latest Google Street View shows the completed overpass over both Albertson's Parkway and the BNSF Railway mainline and LA 182.

It also shows that the approaches were built for the ultimate one-way frontage road bridges over LA 182 and the rail line. I assume that the actual structures will be built as part of the South Ambassador Caffery Parkway interchange about a mile further south, am I right?


Gordon

Looks like LaDOTD is working on design of connector. Maybe Anthony can Comment more about it.                                                             (Lafayette, La.) — The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), along with national, state, regional and local partners, are moving forward with the Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) process for the I-49 Lafayette Connector Project. As the historic preservation process and necessary survey, traffic analysis, and field sampling work progressed, the CSS scope was updated and contracted to continue the goal of achieving a project design that is affordable and acceptable to all key stakeholders and has the potential to become a community asset.

The Concept Refinement phase of the project is complete, and a refined alignment has been agreed upon with community stakeholders input and project partner approval. This includes the development of Evangeline Thruway to improve connectivity and provide access to I-49 from Downtown Lafayette and adjacent neighborhoods. In order to more effectively address the key CSS components of the mainline viaduct and urban design features, the former CSS Community Working Group (CWG) and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) are being combined into a unified Advisory Group (AG) to provide a forum for the coordinated community and technical input for the CSS process. This process will focus on gathering input about various design features to help develop the I-49 Lafayette Connector Design Guidelines.

"Over the next several months, the I-49 Lafayette Connector Advisory Group will conduct a rigorous monthly workshop-based process to keep moving the project ahead with all appropriate parties involved,"  said Secretary Shawn Wilson, Ph.D. "We're looking forward to regrouping as a team to see the I-49 Lafayette Connector through to a final development plan."

Within the next month, the DOTD will be contacting all key stakeholder groups to confirm representation and ongoing participation. For the public, an updated CSS process flowchart is available for viewing on the project website, while neighborhood meetings and public workshops are slated to be scheduled so the community can continue to be informed and ask questions.

###

The I-49 Lafayette Connector, part of DOTD's Geaux South program, is a future 5.5-mile segment of highway that is a critical transportation link for Lafayette and the state as a whole. Geaux South is a $3 billion, multi-year construction initiative to convert approximately 160 miles of the current U.S. 90 corridor to Interstate 49 South. When completed, I-49 will extend from the current terminus at I-10 in Lafayette to the West Bank Expressway in New Orleans. Geaux South will support economic growth, improve access, reduce traffic congestion, and improve connectivity throughout the state's transportation system

Anthony_JK

Link to the LADOTD press release on the resumption of the I-49 Lafayette Connector CSS process:

http://wwwapps.dotd.la.gov/administration/announcements/Announcement.aspx?key=22141

I'll post a comment soon over at the I-49 South/I-49 Connector thread. For now, I'll just say that it's about time.

Anthony_JK

New thread and update on the Lafayette Connector now up:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=26399.0


bwana39

#1399
Quote from: Bobby5280 on July 20, 2019, 02:45:36 PM
Google Earth imagery of the I-49/I-220 interchange is still from April of 2018. But they do have new Street View imagery (March, April & May 2019) of movements through the interchange. The big looping flyover ramp shows a lot of flooding near the road.

Aside from how well Louisiana maintains its roads, I think it's kind of impressive they built this new interchange using more state of the art (and elegant looking) cast-segmental methods on the flyover ramps than the more crude looking methods seen all over Texas. The only bad thing about this interchange is it's missing a WB I-220 to NB I-49 ramp. I wonder if that ramp would be added (with all the other additional ramps) once I-49 is extended South through the interchange toward downtown.

While there is some flooding, this was actually a lagoon before. Not sure how they got to build the freeway over what may have been called wetland.
There are ramps from and to each direction that is done on I49 & 220. Everything was there when it opened. WB 220 to NB 49 is just a simple right turn ramp.

Let's build what we need as economically as possible.



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