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I-49 Lafayette Connector/I-49 South Update (The Sequel)

Started by Anthony_JK, February 08, 2020, 10:41:19 AM

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kernals12

Quote from: Anthony_JK on February 24, 2022, 08:30:38 AM

With enough time on my hands, I decided to update my I-49 Connector blog with a major update bumping it to the present.


It includes illustrations of the new Refinement Alternative and subalternative concepts for the proposed "grand boulevard" along the Evangeline Thruway.


I-49 Connector Update (February 2022) -- I-49 Lafayette Connector Support Blog


The new schedule is to have a Preferred Alternative selected by April; with a Draft Supplemental EIS published in July; a Public Hearing on the SEIS in August, and a final Supplemental Record of Decision on a finalized Selected Supplemental Alternative done by March of next year.



Also, feel free to check out LADOTD's cool Virtual Reality website of the Connector (have to get through about a minute of a bad welcome speech before getting to the good stuff, but it's worth it).


I-49 Lafayette Connector Virtual Reality Site

Do they have the funding though?


bwana39

Quote from: kernals12 on February 24, 2022, 10:02:38 AM
Quote from: Anthony_JK on February 24, 2022, 08:30:38 AM

With enough time on my hands, I decided to update my I-49 Connector blog with a major update bumping it to the present.


It includes illustrations of the new Refinement Alternative and subalternative concepts for the proposed "grand boulevard" along the Evangeline Thruway.


I-49 Connector Update (February 2022) -- I-49 Lafayette Connector Support Blog


The new schedule is to have a Preferred Alternative selected by April; with a Draft Supplemental EIS published in July; a Public Hearing on the SEIS in August, and a final Supplemental Record of Decision on a finalized Selected Supplemental Alternative done by March of next year.



Also, feel free to check out LADOTD's cool Virtual Reality website of the Connector (have to get through about a minute of a bad welcome speech before getting to the good stuff, but it's worth it).


I-49 Lafayette Connector Virtual Reality Site

Do they have the funding though?

This project is as funded as anything in Louisiana that isn't already having dirt moved or better. The potential I-49 to New Orleans is one of the projects LADOTD has on task and is progressing with. Thinking is that as soon as they have something that LADOTD and the community can agree on, they will get to work. It appears with some outliers that this is a consensus done deal.
Let's build what we need as economically as possible.

Anthony_JK

As of right now, there's no funding for construction yet, but I'm thinking that considering the importance of the Connector to complete I-49 South to NOLA, and the fact that I-49 South is right now the #1 priority next on the block for construction, funding it will be not a hard sell. Only roadblock that would block it would be if the Sierra Club and some of the New Urbanist "no freeways in inner cities" wacks step in with a successful lawsuit after the SEIS/ROD is approved, but even that is looking more and more iffy as this project does have more support now than ever.

Anthony_JK

#78
Well, well, well.

The New Urbanist wing of the New York Times suddenly discovers the I-49 Lafayette Connector project, and fires off an article with the usual anti-freeway bromides, and the additional "FREEWAYS CAUSE RACISM!!!!" claptrap (Caution: article is paywalled):

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/us/mccomb-lafayette-louisiana-highway.html?mc_cid=02bfe3bbc5&mc_eid=471c3ba336


Strangely enough, the article quotes from residents of the McComb-Veazey neighborhood adjacent to the project, which would not be impacted directly from the ROW of the Connector project, and could actually benefit from the redevelopment of the proposed conversion of the Evangeline Thruway into an urban "grand boulevard".


We'll see if this activates the national New Urbanists to action.


Meanwhile, the Louisiana Legislature started the process of funding the Connector project with their annual spending and construction appropriation bills (HR 1 for spending, HR 2 for construction). An initial $100 million is earmarked for the Lafayette Connector project in HR 2; along with $100M for the I-10 Calcasieu River bridge replacement.



Bobby5280

Funny thing: the notion the New York Times has noticed this project and written negative things about could actually inspire the politically conservative Louisiana state government to increase their support of the connector project out of spite.
:-D

jbnv

Quote from: Anthony_JK on April 18, 2022, 07:37:48 PM
(Caution: article is paywalled):

Not a problem for me; I don't need to read it.

Quote from: Bobby5280 on April 18, 2022, 10:25:17 PM
Funny thing: the notion the New York Times has noticed this project and written negative things about could actually inspire the politically conservative Louisiana state government to increase their support of the connector project out of spite.
:-D

Like I've said before, we have statewide elections coming up next year, and there's an incentive for politicians to rally around these projects. Particularly Jeff Landry, the current AG, former congressman and all-but-declared candidate for governor in 2023. Landry is from Iberia Parish and represented much of the I-49 South corridor as a Congressman. I expect him to promote I-49 and the I-10 projects to shore up his support in Lafayette, Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. Meanwhile, if the Democrats want any chance of keeping the seat in their hands, they'll have to figure out how to navigate I-49 without throwing the predominately-Black McComb-Veazey neighborhood under the bus.
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kernals12

The Times obviously went desperately searching for opponents to a project that polls show consistent support for.

Anthony_JK

I have now been able to access and read the article, and it's not as biased as I thought. It does quote a few opponents, but also gives supporters at least some space to counter.

The few comments to the article, OTOH, are dominated by the usual array of Connector opponents, all of whom are now focusing on an alternative consisting of a bypass (either the old Teche Ridge east bypass proposal or the Lafayette Regional eXpressway toll loop) combined with an at-grade conversion of the Evangeline Thruway utilizing the "grand boulevard" concept. (This is similar to the "grand boulevard" proposed by the "Loop It" folks in Shreveport along with the I-220/LA 3132 rerouting to replace the Shreveport ICC.)

All of the comments roll upon the usual canard of "Elevated freeways are RACIST and destroy Black neighborhoods!!!"; ignoring the fact that the Connector would bypass McComb-Veazey to the west along the former railroad yard property; there would be little to NO displacements of businesses in that neighborhood, and that those alternatives are either prohibitively more expensive (the LRX would carry a tag of $3B for construction, and Teche Ridge would carry closer to $800M and carry a fraction of the traffic that uses the US 90/Evangeline Thruway corridor, and would still not make the Thruway any safer for residents) or have their own negative impacts (Teche Ridge would have to traverse Cypress Swamp east of Lafayette).

It's too bad that the Times closed down comments, because I would have gladly countered these fools.

Anthony_JK

A recent article in the Acadiana Advocate on the possible beginning of construction of converting a section of US 90 in Broussard to a six-lane freeway with one way access roads, along with construction of the Ambassador Caffery Parkway South interchange with US 90:


https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/business/article_334b3084-ac32-11ec-a512-43bbeed19a0d.html


This new extension would include the following:


- Widening the US 90 mainlanes from 4 to 6 lanes (3 in either direction) from the LA 182/BNSF Railway bridge to Ambassador Caffery
- Constructing an overpass/interchange at Ambassador Caffery South to replace the current signalized intersection
- Constructing and extending the current one-way frontage road system over the BNSF railroad /LA 182 (via completion of the overpasses) and extending them through Ambassador Caffery South


A contract could be signed by September, with a target of 2025 for completion.


There was also a brief update on the I-49 Lafayette Connector process; LADOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson said that they had secured enough funding from various sources that they could begin construction as soon as the design and environmental processes were completed; with a targeted goal of completing the Supplemental EIS for the project by "next summer".


Quote
The I-49 [C]onnector, the 5.5-mile extension of I-49 that stretches from its terminus at Interstate 10 to Lafayette Regional Airport, remains a futuristic project, with environmental impact study expected to be completed by next summer but possibly earlier, Wilson said.[/font]
[/size]The governor's office is allocating $50 million from COVID-19 relief, $75 million from the American Rescue Plan Act along with an additional $100 million for a total of $225 million for the first round of funding for the project that could end up costing $1.5 billion due to recent inflation, Wilson said.[/font]
[/size]Another $28 million, he noted, could come from the state's new vehicle sales tax. That could fund "the big section in the middle,"  which could be $400-$600 million alone, he said.[/font]



That "big section in the middle" includes the proposed Grand Boulevard segment of the Evangeline Thruway as well as the actual Connector freeway.


[Note: Slight edit of the quote from the article to cap the "C" in "Connector". So sue me.]




kernals12

Construction set to start in 2023!

I hope this project will show that elevated highways that run through cities don't have to barriers between communities or sources of blight.

roadman65

Quote from: kernals12 on June 29, 2022, 07:09:54 PM
Construction set to start in 2023!

I hope this project will show that elevated highways that run through cities don't have to barriers between communities or sources of blight.

You have to pay to see this story.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Plutonic Panda

^^^ no you won't

QuoteThe elevated stretch of Interstate 49 along the edge of downtown Lafayette will be built "in most of your lifetimes"  thanks to $200 million in one-time funding approved by the state legislature, one Lafayette lawmaker said.

Senate President Page Cortez, speaking during this morning's legislative session recap put on by One Acadiana, said the money could keep the project moving and include funding to improve the bridge over the Vermilion River. The project will be kicked off in the spring of 2023, he said.

The one-time money was part of an effort legislators made to improving infrastructure in south Louisiana, with $300 million earmarked for a new Mississippi River bridge and $200 million for the new I-10 bridge in Lake Charles.

The session was historic, State Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, since Orleans and Jefferson parishes traditionally have gotten a majority of funding for infrastructure.

"Orleans and Jefferson parishes have run capital outlay for decades,"  Bishop said. "I mean decade after decade. And guess what? Acadiana is now in charge of leadership. With the help of a lot of people, we brought home more money to Acadiana than has been brought home in decades."

Work should begin by the end of the year the $138.6 million project to convert the intersection of U.S. 90 and Ambassador Caffery Parkway into an interstate-style exit, including expanding U.S. 90 from that intersection to the Albertson Parkway exit. That project could be complete by 2025.

The I-49 connector will stretch 5.5 miles from the Interstate 10 interchange to the Lafayette Regional Airport. Latest renderings show the elevated portion will be built along the railroad track adjacent to downtown and include a grand boulevard design below.

The project needs to be complete all the way to the I-310 bridge in St. Charles Parish to relieve pressure off I-10, said Sen. Bret Allain, R- Franklin. Once completed, I-49 would provide a shorter route for travelers going from New Orleans to Houston and bring more population to the areas along the highway.

Inside info on doing business in Acadiana
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"It's a huge economic development tool,"  Allain said. "It really needs to be done."

Lawmakers also noted the small wins in the area of tax collection after the constitutional amendment to centralize sales tax collection in the state was turned down by voters. Two bills made it to the governor's desk: SB 95, which aims to reduce the burden on businesses operating in multiple parishes by creating a multi-parish audit program for local sales tax, and SB 235, which allows local collectors to opt into collecting through the Remote Sellers Commission, which now collects sales tax from online retailers via a streamlined process.

Louisiana is one of three states that does not have a centralized sales tax collection process for businesses. Voters in Lafayette and St. Landry parishes supported the measure when it was on ballot, but the measure failed mostly due to opposition from sheriff's offices statewide and from officials in Orleans Parish.

The main opposition, State Rep. Gerald "Beau"  Beallieu said, was from the tax collecting bodies who make money off their services.

"Those rates throughout the state vary, and some of them – I'm going to call them profit centers – are money grabs by those collectors,"  he said. "If you look throughout the state at some of the rates they're charging, it's insane compared to what we see compared to some of our local collectors. It's a fund they don't want to let go of easily."

State Sen. Jeremy Stine, R-Lake Charles and part of the Stine Lumber Co. family, noted how the company has 11 locations in Louisiana and one in Natchez, Mississippi. The company files only one return in Mississippi, which has a centralized collection system.

"As much as it pains me to say this, it's far easier for us to do business in Mississippi than it is in Louisiana when it comes to sales tax,"  Stine said. "We run trucks all around the region in Mississippi, and we pay to one place, and that's in Jackson, Mississippi. "We've got two ladies in our office in Sulphur that's all they do all day long – remit taxes to different taxing authorities. It is burdensome."

Anthony_JK

Ummm....not so fast.

They haven't even finished the preliminary design and the Supplemental EIS, which the Draft copy of such was scheduled to be released next month. That seems to have been delayed, since I've seen no updates from the Lafayette Connector website since last November. They are still a ways to go before shovels start digging.

They are scheduled to break ground later this summer for the Ambassador Caffery South interchange with US 90, which will also include extending the one-way access/frontage road system -- that they built for the Albertson Parkway/St. Nazaire Road interchange -- over LA 182 and the BNSF Railway line to extend to AbCPS.

The Ghostbuster

I expect it will be an adventure to complete Interstate 49 along US 90 and US 167 through the city of Lafayette. And yes, a paywall did show up, although it took a while and gave me enough time to read the whole story.

Bobby5280

Heck, the I-49 project there has already been an adventure and construction hasn't even started on the "good part" of it yet!

Anthony_JK

If they can get past the inevitable lawsuit from the Sierra Club and the usual opponents, it actually shouldn't be so much of an adventure. The only actual real argument they can make against the Connector is it passing through the old Southern Pacific railyard property, which was considered a hazardous waste site, but was mostly cleaned up during the 2000's. The fear was and is that pilings dug for the elevated structure might penetrate into the Chicot Aquifer, which supplies Lafayette's drinking water. There are standard protocols for preventing that, and an environmental assessment has been done for the site to determine if there is any remaining threat of contamination and what could be done to mitigate it.

The alternatives to building the Connector freeway won't fly, either. Some have proposed simply building the "grand boulevard" along the Evangeline Thruway without the Connector freeway, as if a four-lane boulevard filled to the gills with walkways, bike lanes, and businesses filled with signalized crossings can handle 140K of traffic per day.

And the bypass alternatives are stupid as well: the Lafayette Regional eXpressway (LRX) tollway that has been proposed is so far out of the way (almost bordering the western and southern extremities of Lafayette Parish) and prohibitively expensive (potential cost of nearly $2 BILLION to $2.5 BILLION, compared to $1B for the Connector; and the old Teche Ridge bypass proposal going through St. Martin Parish near St. Martinville and Breaux Bridge has its own issues of having to traverse Cypress Swamp, as well as not attracting any degree of traffic away from the Evangeline Thruway/US 90 corridor. Plus, the commitment to upgrading US 90 south of Lafayette makes Teche Ridge a moot point anyway.

The initial commitment of funding this year might be the kick that finally pops the cork in building the Connector freeway through Lafayette.


Bobby5280

#91
Hopefully that funding commitment will give the project a lot more positive momentum. The upgrade projects farther South on US-90 would also appear to build momentum to make I-49 a thru freeway rather than something with Breezewood-style gaps.

I wish more was getting done with I-49 over in the New Orleans area. The existing portion of the Westbank Expressway was built nearly 40 years ago. Nothing has been done with it since the mid 1980's. The portion of US-90 in Westwego has been sitting there, freeway ready, since the 1970's.

For all the difficulties with I-49 that have been going in the Lafayette area it seems like the Louisiana government could have been tackling other I-49 projects in the meantime. Completing the Westbank Expressway would have been easy. Avondale doesn't look like it would be difficult; it looks like there is sufficient ROW available. The upgrade through Boutte to reach I-310 could be a bit more tricky. There is a lot of development right up on existing US-90 on either side of the I-310 intersection. The same goes for US-90 in Paradis; it's a tight squeeze there. Not as many properties would have to be taken in Des Allemands.

Anthony_JK

#92
From what I am seeing, the main focus right now for LADOTD regarding I-49 South is to get funding commitments for the Lafayette Connector section, slowly upgrade the segment just south of there to LA 88 (which includes the Ambassador Caffery Parkway South interchange that is about to be constructed), finish off the segment in Iberia Parish (including removing that blasted at-grade rail spur crossing near Jeanerette near the sugar cane processing plant), and finish the environmental and line-and-grade studies for the segments from Ricohoc/Wax Lake through Patterson/Bayou Vista to Berwick. That would essentially complete I-49 South from I-10 in Lafayette all the way to the LA 1/LA 308/Bayou Lafourche bridge. The segment through Patterson and Bayou Vista will be the biggest PITA because the ROW of US 90 narrows to a pinch point at the US 90/Cotton Road intersection in Patterson between the meandering of the Atchafalaya River and the BNSF/UP rail line through there; and they may have to do a bit more of an elevated section there to avoid dividing the town.

As for Raceland to the Westbank Expressway....from Raceland to Des Allemands through the Barataria Basin should be a piece of cake; but once you get into Des Allemands the trouble starts. The original idea was to bypass Des Allemands to the south and run I-49 in the wetlands and lowland areas just south of US 90 as a fully elevated viaduct; but due to prohibitive costs, the new idea is simply to overlay US 90 using an improved existing Bayou Des Allemands bridge, then do a brief bypass of East Des Allemands, and then cannibalize existing US 90 to near Paradis, then go off on a south bypass to connect with the existing I-310/US 90 interchange near Boutte. The plan is to now extend I-310/LA 3137 south of the existing terminus to a temporary connection with I-49, and then FOR NOW run I-49 along I-310 to end at I-10 at the I-310 interchange west of NOLA International Airport. The segment from Boutte east to the Westbank Expressway ending in downtown NOLA at the Ponchatrain Expressway/Claiborne Avenue interchange near the Ceasars Superdome, including the full completion of the latter, would probably be put off until the end.

Plutonic Panda

^^^^ just out of curiosity since you seem to be on top of Louisiana happenings this project seems to be getting to being more of a focus for LDOT. I'm assuming this will be either done or in full swing by 2030s finishing up not too long after.

When do you think we'll start hearing more serious talks about I-10 new New Orleans? Because I know LDOT had a lot on their plate but that will be a big one coming up. I'm sure in this decade they'll want to focus on I-49 corridor projects along with rural I-10 segments. Not sure if the Shreveport I-49 connector will be a focus this decade or not. But I'd imagine pretty soon they'll need to start spending more time looking at the I-10 segment in New Orleans that's lot of urbanist want torn down.

kernals12

Quote from: Plutonic Panda on July 03, 2022, 04:55:13 AM
^^^^ just out of curiosity since you seem to be on top of Louisiana happenings this project seems to be getting to being more of a focus for LDOT. I'm assuming this will be either done or in full swing by 2030s finishing up not too long after.

When do you think we'll start hearing more serious talks about I-10 new New Orleans? Because I know LDOT had a lot on their plate but that will be a big one coming up. I'm sure in this decade they'll want to focus on I-49 corridor projects along with rural I-10 segments. Not sure if the Shreveport I-49 connector will be a focus this decade or not. But I'd imagine pretty soon they'll need to start spending more time looking at the I-10 segment in New Orleans that's lot of urbanist want torn down.

A lot of urbanists wanted I-345 in Dallas torn down. Then TxDOT came along and showed how doing so would cause a traffic nightmare downtown and offered to instead rebuild it in a way that's less visually intrusive and now that movement has died down. If LaDOT can show that removing I-10 in New Orleans would cause horrible traffic tie-ups, then they could also kill off any dreams of tearing it down.

Perhaps the Lafayette Connector will show how an elevated highway doesn't need to be ugly.

Anthony_JK

The last time they attempted to push the removal of the Claiborne Elevated segment of I-10, it got shot down due to strong opposition from nearly every politician, as well as even from many residents of Treme itself, who feared that the teardown would be a precursor to "urban removal"/gentrification of the neighborhood.  But I'm sure the New Urbanist activists are more than ready to try their luck again with another attempt. Though, considering the political makeup of the Louisiana State Legislature, I don't think a teardown will have any broad support outside of local New Urbanist interests.

The Lafayette Connector project is one of the few examples where they have attempted to incorporate CSS and even some New Urbanist principles within construction of an elevated freeway through the central portion of a city. If it does work, it could be a pretty good counter to the notion that elevated freeways are innately destructive....though, you will always have the detractors.


Bobby5280

Removing I-10 on the edge of Downtown New Orleans would be an especially stupid idea. The intersection with I-10, Claiborne Ave (US-90) and the Ponchatrain Expressway (Bus US-90) is a pretty major intersection. The Superdome is right there and the Smoothie King arena is next door. A hell of a lot of traffic moves in and out of the downtown area and the French Quarter. Reducing I-10 to one or two at-grade boulevards with a shit-ton of traffic signals would plunge the downtown area into pure hell for motorists. Traffic is already bad enough as it is. No freeway would make it much worse. Let's also not forget the North Claiborne Ave portion of I-10, the one most likely to be torn down by New Urbanists, runs through a not so safe area of town. How many people want to be stuck waiting at traffic signals there?

Also, New Orleans doesn't exactly have the greatest mass transit system serving that region. There is a limited street car line serving only a small portion of the city. And there is city buses. How many people truthfully enjoy commuting by using the bus?

bwana39

Removing the Claiborne elevated freeway section of I-10 is less than desirable. That said, through freeway access would still be there. That proposal would only have the eastern segment removed. The Pontchartrain Expressway would remain.

The through I-10 traffic already travels via I-610 (or I-12) This all said, the traffic volumes pretty much demand the Claiborne part remain open.

I will add one thing that most of us already realize: The result of freeway removal is almost never reunification of a divided community. It is either gentrification, redevelopment, or new development. None of these three benefit the "affected" communities.
Let's build what we need as economically as possible.

kernals12

Quote from: bwana39 on July 03, 2022, 08:40:44 PM
Removing the Claiborne elevated freeway section of I-10 is less than desirable. That said, through freeway access would still be there. That proposal would only have the eastern segment removed. The Pontchartrain Expressway would remain.

The through I-10 traffic already travels via I-610 (or I-12) This all said, the traffic volumes pretty much demand the Claiborne part remain open.

I will add one thing that most of us already realize: The result of freeway removal is almost never reunification of a divided community. It is either gentrification, redevelopment, or new development. None of these three benefit the "affected" communities.


Or it just makes no real difference at all. Rochester hasn't exactly been a hot spot since they filled in the inner loop.

Plutonic Panda

Quote from: kernals12 on July 03, 2022, 08:55:51 PM
Quote from: bwana39 on July 03, 2022, 08:40:44 PM
Removing the Claiborne elevated freeway section of I-10 is less than desirable. That said, through freeway access would still be there. That proposal would only have the eastern segment removed. The Pontchartrain Expressway would remain.

The through I-10 traffic already travels via I-610 (or I-12) This all said, the traffic volumes pretty much demand the Claiborne part remain open.

I will add one thing that most of us already realize: The result of freeway removal is almost never reunification of a divided community. It is either gentrification, redevelopment, or new development. None of these three benefit the "affected" communities.


Or it just makes no real difference at all. Rochester hasn't exactly been a hot spot since they filled in the inner loop.
It's going to be interesting to see what happens in Syracuse.



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