LADOTD plans US 190 widening in St. Tammany Parish

[brownpelican]

Tangle of ways to widen major St. Tammany thoroughfare are presented

Christine Harvey, The Times-Picayune

Residents got several choices Wednesday night with regard to widening U.S. 190 between Mandeville and Slidell. Now they just have to let the people handling the project know what they want.

Two lanes, four lanes -- in some cases three. Roundabouts.

No more left turns into fast-moving traffic. More traffic lights.

Officials from the state Department of Transportation and Development, St. Tammany Parish, Mandeville and Slidell, along with consultants from Shread-Kuyrkendall & Associates and Urban Systems Inc., met with about 65 residents at the Lacombe Community Center to discuss the plans for improving the traffic flow and safety for vehicles traveling between Louisiana 1089, near Fontainebleau State Park, and U.S. 11 The various maps -- 13 in all -- that the planners had placed around the room showed the 16-mile stretch divided into four sections: from Louisiana 1089 to Lacombe, a Lacombe segment, Lacombe to Thompson Road and Thompson Road to U.S. 11. Then, residents could look at maps showing the alternatives for widening the highway by section.

All of the options would use either roundabouts or median U-turn intersections, which keep drivers from making left turns at busy intersections and instead force them to turn right and follow the road until reaching a U-turn to head in the desired direction. In the spots where a turn might be too tight for a semitruck or the like, the planners would use "loons," or bump-outs into the shoulder, to allow for an increased turning radius.

And in some instances, new four-way intersections would be created with new traffic signals, such as where U.S. 190 intersects Louisiana 434 in Lacombe, said R. Gary McClure, an engineer at Shread-Kuyrkendall.

The section between 1089 and Lacombe could be two lanes with median U-turns or roundabouts, or four lanes with median U-turns.

The Lacombe section could have two lanes with 6- or 22-foot medians and two roundabouts; three lanes, with a center turning lane; or two, three and four lanes at various points, with 6- or 22-foot medians and one roundabout.

Between Lacombe and Thompson Road, the section could have two or four lanes, with a 22-foot median, and median U-turns or roundabouts.

The stretch between Thompson Road and U.S. 11 would be four lanes with 6- or 22-foot medians, and either roundabouts only or roundabouts and median U-turns. One alternative recommends realigning U.S. 190 just east of Northshore Boulevard, though it is unclear what would happen to the businesses along the highway.

In addition, the planners would widen any bridges that fall along the stretch, as well as create shoulders where none now exist.

McClure emphasized that the plans to widen U.S. 190 are not set in stone and that the planners simply wanted to present a variety of ideas to discern what residents want the highway to look like in the future. He encouraged those in attendance to fill out comment sheets and return them at the end of the meeting.

St. Tammany Parish Councilman Steve Stefancik wondered how much information on future land use the planners sought before coming up with the alternatives, noting that none of the plans takes into consideration the Poitevent family's intention to build a traditional neighborhood development along U.S. 190, roughly between K Bar B Road and Christa Drive west of Slidell.

The development will contain hundreds of new homes and commercial businesses on hundreds of acres on both sides of the highway, yet the plans don't seem to take that into account.

McClure said specifics like that and future land use plans will be handled once the project enters the design phase, which likely would take place three or more years from now, if the state agrees to finance that stage of the project.

He noted that Wednesday's meeting is the last in the feasibility stage and that the planners hope to secure financing for the next stage, which includes planning and environmental issues.

Christine Harvey can be reached at charvey@timespicayune.com or 985.645.2853.

http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2010/06/tangle_of_ways_to_widen_major_st_tammany_thoroughfare_are_presented.html

[agentsteel53]

More traffic lights.

what kind of maniac wants that??

[froggie]

Thompson Road to U.S. 11.

This stretch has needed widening for years...a point made even more pressing after Katrina.  Though given the heavy turning volumes, I have to wonder how well a roundabout would work at Northshore Blvd...

[Truvelo]

Why not build interchanges at the major roads? That way turning traffic doesn't interfere with through traffic.

Looking on a map I-12 runs parallel to 190 so wouldn't traffic use the interstate instead or is there a lot of local traffic clogging up 190?

[froggie]

It's largely local traffic (not to mention non-existent access management and the Louisiana tendency to create ONE ingress/egress point for neighborhoods).  A further complicating factor is that the main shopping/retail area for Slidell is located adjacent to the US 190/Northshore Blvd intersection.

Interchanges are pretty much out of the question, due to existing development and the ROW requirements.  That said, it'd be nice if they could provide some sort of overpass over the Norfolk Southern tracks adjacent to US 11.

[UptownRoadGeek]

Why don't they just do like the southshore and do away with left turns.

[froggie]

Probably because, unlike the south shore, there are no nearby alternative routes to handle those turns...

[UptownRoadGeek]

They have it proposed as one of the preferred alternates so I'm sure that they can figure it out. All they would really have to do is add U-turn lanes at the major intersections and widen just a little of the cross streets if they have the ROW.

[codyg1985]

The section between 1089 and Lacombe could be two lanes with median U-turns or roundabouts, or four lanes with median U-turns.

What would be the point ot two lanes with a median U-turn? Would this just be put in place solely to reduce left-turns? If work is needed on the road, then why not widen it to four lanes?

That said, it'd be nice if they could provide some sort of overpass over the Norfolk Southern tracks adjacent to US 11

Agreed, but it would be interesting to see how the US 11/US 190 intersection would be affected.