I49 in LA

[bugo]

"Geaux" reminds me of asshole LSU fans who pick fights with fans of other teams, spit on them and pour beer on them, and go around saying "tiger bait" to everyone.  They need to remember that they used to suck and will suck again.

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

"Geaux" just perpetuates stereotypes. Why we can't try to be serious for a change - especially regarding something as important as transportation? Louisiana is already well known for its unique attributes both good and bad.

[bassoon1986]

"Geaux" reminds me of asshole LSU fans who pick fights with fans of other teams, spit on them and pour beer on them, and go around saying "tiger bait" to everyone.  They need to remember that they used to suck and will suck again.

I'm not saying spitting on other fans is right or just a cultural thing here, but I wouldn't point fingers at Louisiana teams and sports fans. There are plenty of ignorant fans and jerks in every state.

I agree with the others that "geaux" is fun cultural thing that I will always associate with Louisiana. It's kind of laid back and fun here.

[bugo]

I would point my finger at LSU fans.  Most SEC teams' fanbases agree that LSU has the worst fans in the SEC.

[jbnv]

I would point my finger at LSU fans.  Most SEC teams' fanbases agree that LSU has the worst fans in the SEC.

I was in a church retreat, of all things, where some LSU students made a skit mocking the other schools represented. To this day I do not support LSU athletics, even when they're on the verge of championships.

[RoadMaster09]

How would I-49 enter and go through NOLA? I know there are pushes to tear down I-10 through downtown (610 becomes 10 in that case). That would require either terminating it at I-310 or a new bypass near Chalmette to reach I-510.

I also think that a new Interstate designation, say I-349, should be built for the LA-1 expressway (twinned and upgraded) to Port Fourchon.

[TheStranger]

How would I-49 enter and go through NOLA?

Wouldn't it follow the existing Business US 90/unsigned I-910 into town?

[mcdonaat]

How would I-49 enter and go through NOLA?

Wouldn't it follow the existing Business US 90/unsigned I-910 into town?

I think it would, and would follow the Pontchartrain Expressway through NOLA to the 10/610 junction. The talk about tearing down 10 is only on the Claiborne Expressway segment, between the Superdome and 610.

I think that if you remove I-10 between the Pontchartrain Expressway and where it meets 610 again, and upgrade short pieces of Franklin and Almonaster to freeways, it would calm traffic down coming into the Quarter, and speed it up to get it on 10.

Also, what about taking South Clearview and upgrading the piece between the HPL and Earhart as an expressway? Just curious if you can make that I-49 Business.

By taking I-10 between the 'Dome and Metairie, and making it I-49, you would still have an Interstate, with the ability to eliminate the crazy quilt that exists where 10 turns east. I'm more focused on taking I-49 and temporarily moving it to the I-310 segment while the Westbank Expressway is being upgraded from the HPL to the actual start of the expressway.

[Anthony_JK]

How would I-49 enter and go through NOLA? I know there are pushes to tear down I-10 through downtown (610 becomes 10 in that case). That would require either terminating it at I-310 or a new bypass near Chalmette to reach I-510.

I also think that a new Interstate designation, say I-349, should be built for the LA-1 expressway (twinned and upgraded) to Port Fourchon.

The plan to eliminate the Claiborne Elevated portion of I-10 is still that....a plan. Hopefully, a plan that will not happen.

I-49 South will terminate at the Claiborne/I-10/Ponchatrain Expy. interchange near the Mercedes Benz Superdome. Though, if the Claiborne Elevated is eliminated, you could extend it along the Ponchatrain northward to Metarie to the original I-10/I-610 interchange.

[Gordon]

  News about I 49, Where is this building along the projected route in LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - A 19th-century building set to be demolished to make way for a planned Interstate 49 interchange in downtown Lafayette is being researched as a possible nominee for the National Register of Historic Places But state transportation officials say they are still moving forward with plans to level the two-story brick structure despite the research work.

DOTD officials say no date has been set for the building to come down.Believed to have been built in 1885, The Advocate reports the structure is one of the oldest buildings in a downtown Lafayette.Jacques Berry, spokesman for the Lieutenant Governor's Office, says the state's historic preservation staff has begun research on whether the building might be a candidate for the National Register of Historic Places.

[Anthony_JK]

  News about I 49, Where is this building along the projected route in LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - A 19th-century building set to be demolished to make way for a planned Interstate 49 interchange in downtown Lafayette is being researched as a possible nominee for the National Register of Historic Places But state transportation officials say they are still moving forward with plans to level the two-story brick structure despite the research work.

DOTD officials say no date has been set for the building to come down.Believed to have been built in 1885, The Advocate reports the structure is one of the oldest buildings in a downtown Lafayette.Jacques Berry, spokesman for the Lieutenant Governor's Office, says the state's historic preservation staff has begun research on whether the building might be a candidate for the National Register of Historic Places.

There is an article in the Acadiana Advocate on the Colburn's Building and its potential impact on the I-49 Connector project:

http://theadvocate.com/home/10056070-123/research-underway-on-structure-in

It should be noted that the building is not directly in the freeway ROW, but would be taken by the proposed interchange/railroad grade seperation between I-49 and the Second/Third Street couplet.

(Caveat: Yes, the Advocate is based in Baton Rouge, but they do have an Acadiana/Lafayette bureau that sometimes covers Lafayette better than even the home-based Advertiser.)

[vtk]

Local historical societies should be more on the ball. If the building's worthy of being on the register of historic places, why did they wait for a highway project to threaten it before starting the process?

[rte66man]

Local historical societies should be more on the ball. If the building's worthy of being on the register of historic places, why did they wait for a highway project to threaten it before starting the process?

One word..... money (or lack thereof)

[Anthony_JK]

Local historical societies should be more on the ball. If the building's worthy of being on the register of historic places, why did they wait for a highway project to threaten it before starting the process?

First....it is outside the immediate I-49 ROW, so it wasn't given quite the scrutiny when the original EIS was developed around 1998-2003.

Second...the original process that produced the 2003 Final EIS/ROD called for updated archeological/historical investigations for any properties that would potentially be affected by the ultimately selected alternative. That's really how the Colburn's building escaped scrutiny the first time. Plus, it hadn't reached the 50-year old threshold that would render it eligible for NRHP protection.

The design process will take a couple or three years to complete, so there is ample time to investigate whether the building meets NRHP standards. But, even if it does, chances are more than likely it will still be ultimately demolished, with documentation and preservation of the facade and some other artifacts for posterity. LADOTD is committed to constructing the project once funds are found.....and they're (along with the Feds) are paying the bill. I'd be very surprised if this ends up even delaying the project, heaven forbid killing it.

Though, I'm sure the Teche Ridge groupies are already sharpening their steely knives for a second attempt to kill the project.


UPDATE (8-27-14):

The Acadiana Advertiser just posted a follow-up article saying that state Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism officials did a tour of the Coburn's Building earlier this week, and that a preliminary determination for eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places could be made as early as next week. For their part, LADOTD still plans to demolish the structure, citing the earlier determination of non-eligibility via the 2003 EIS/ROD, though no timeline has been set. Supporters of saving the building are hoping that a determination of eligibility for the NRHP would persuade LADOTD to reconsider tweaking the Second/Third interchange design.

I've added a layout of the proposed 2nd/3rd Street SPUI and the proposed layout for I-49 downtown, adding a circle for where the Coburn's Building is in relationship to the proposed interchange (original image from the I-49 Connector 2003 FEIS, as modded by me using GIMP):



Remember that Second and Third Streets are supposed to be depressed to cross under the BNSF/UP rail line, rather than at-grade at present.

There's also this story, also at the Acadiana Advocate:

http://theadvocate.com/news/9922748-123/lafayette-officials-seek-to-spare

In the comment section of that article, I respond to comments from one of the sponsors of the drive to save the Coburn's Building, who apparently sees it as his opening to kill the entire project and presumably bring back the failed Teche Ridge Eastern Bypass proposal. Let's see how that exchange goes.

[Grzrd]

The design process will take a couple or three years to complete, so there is ample time to investigate whether the building meets NRHP standards. But, even if it does, chances are more than likely it will still be ultimately demolished, with documentation and preservation of the facade and some other artifacts for posterity. LADOTD is committed to constructing the project once funds are found.....and they're (along with the Feds) are paying the bill. I'd be very surprised if this ends up even delaying the project, heaven forbid killing it.

This article reports a LaDOTD spokeswoman as saying that LaDOTD expects to "go into" (as opposed to "complete"?) the design phase of the I-49 connector project "in about five years".  Maybe a long wait is becoming even longer:

The future of a 130 year old Lafayette building is still uncertain and the state department of transportation and development states they are going to reassess the historical value of the merchant wholesale grocery building at the intersection of Cypress and Second Street.
DOTD spokeswoman Deidra Druilhet says "Tearing down the building was part of the plan to build the future I-49 connector."
About 1,800 buildings, including the merchant wholesale building, underwent an historical assessment in 2003 and only 8 buildings, not including the merchant whole sale building, got the official designation.
"Regardless of the building's future,"  Druilhet says, "DOTD expects to go into the design phase of the I-49 connector project in about five years."

edit

Oh well, the five-year time frame should allow for plenty of time to complete the TIGER grant study associated with the I-49 connector (page 27/80 of pdf):

TIGER will fund a corridor plan for the Interstate 49 Southern Corridor, alongside the I-49 connector, a 5.5 mile, elevated highway that will pass through the urban core of Lafayette. The plan seeks to prepare for improvements in the corridor concurrently with the planning of the connector. Specifically, the Corridor Plan will focus on connecting disadvantaged populations in the corridor with employment centers, expanding transit, and promoting economic development. Local partners will work with the Louisiana Department of Transportation to develop corridor plans concurrently with those of the connector, with the goal of preventing the need to fix problems created by the structure after it is built ....
The plan has high levels of partnership from public and community groups, and builds on previous planning efforts, including the Blue Book designed by the University of Louisiana, an Action Plan created by the Lafayette City-Parish Council in partnership with local, state, and federal government, and an Economic Redevelopment plan. The corridor plan will take advantage of land use and transportation infrastructure to do so. It will tie plans to potential funding, and utilize innovative funding mechanisms. This will help mitigate potential issues of community disruption and isolation associated with the elevated freeway ....

[Anthony_JK]

Considering, Grzzd, that LADOTD just announced last July that they selected Stantec as the chief consultant for the I-49 Connector design process, and that an official contract would probably be delivered by no later than the end of this year, me thinks that that spokesperson is a bit late.

The timeline that was given as part of the sucessful bid for the TIGER grant by LCG is dependent highly on running concurrently with LADOTD's design process, and they list most of the work of design for the corridor as occuring during late summer 2015 and summer of 2016. An RFP for a consultant to execute the local plan for LCG is scheduled to be formally introduced next month, with selection and execution of said contract completed by spring of 2015.

At any rate, they still have to find the money to construct the thing, and that will possibly take some time. So, no rush.

In the meantime, LADOTD is flying with the commitments on the remaining segments of I-49 South. The Ambassador Caffery Parkway interchange is in the design stage and about to begin construction; a design/build contract has been executed on the US 90/LA 318 interchange with construction currently slated for 2016; design work is scheduled to begin on the segments of US 90 from Ambassador Caffery Parkway to LA 88 (beginning with frontage road work from Captain Cade Road to Ambassador Caffery, not sure if that will also include the LA 92/LA 92-1 grade seperations), and for the frontage road work from Albertsons' Parkway north to Southpark Road (LA 89), not including the Southpark Rd. interchange. Also, the overpass for the L&DRR crossing near Jeanerette just east of LA 85 is scheduled for construction around 2016, too.  And....RFP's are forthcoming for the Verot School Road interchange w/ US 90 and the Supplemental EIS for changes for the I-49 segments between Raceland and Westwego.

[dariusb]

This is a bit off topic but is the Lafayette area experiencing or expected to experience a big construction boom/jump in population due to I-49?

[jbnv]

This is a bit off topic but is the Lafayette area experiencing or expected to experience a big construction boom/jump in population due to I-49?

It's already experiencing population growth and construction. Has been for much of the century. I-49 is an upgrade of an existing highway, but the upgrade could make areas south of Lafayette more attractive for businesses and residents. As it is, the fastest-growing part of the Lafayette area is Youngsville, which is right along US 90 and will benefit tremendously from the upgrade.

[Anthony_JK]

Speaking thereof...LADOTD has now made public their much awaited study on the feasibility of using tolls for funding the I-49 South project.

Turns out, tolls would only go so far as fund from 26 to 51 percent of the project, even under the rosiest scenarios, and other means of "innovative funding" would be required to complete the project.

The study basically compared 4 scenarios: three of which involved constructing and funding with tolls a section of I-49 South, and the other tolling the entire 144 mile project.

One of the scenarios involved slapping tolls on the segment of US 90 between Morgan City and Raceland; that one came up most feasible for using tolls for completion. The fact that that segment is already fully complete and running as a freeway apparently didn't come up for discussion, nor the obvious outcry from residents who probably would not like paying tolls on a highway they've already funded for free thanks to the TIMED program.

The Lafayette Daily Advertiser has the full report available as both an embedded page and a downloadable (via Google Drive) pdf file.

They also posted a supporting article there yesterday with comments from supporters of I-49 South who were somewhat "disappoi nted" with the outcome of the study.

Discussions of tolls are in the early stages, but advocates for pushing forward I-49 South said the study shows that a mix of toll revenue with federal and state money could pave the way for the road.

"Tolls are probably going to have to be an integral part of getting I-49 done, as long as people are getting what they are paying for," said state Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin, the main force behind the recent formation of the I-49 South Coalition, a group of politicians, business owners and economic development officials trying to push the project forward.

Allain and others said they were disappointed Monday that the feasibility study didn't find the toll revenue could pay for a bigger chunk of I-49 South.

"We realize this is not necessarily the best of news," said Dennis Decker, assistant secretary of multimodal planning for Department of Transportation and Development.

[...]

The numbers should not be discouraging, said Michael Copeland, a planner with consultant CDM Smith, the company that did the toll feasibility study.

"It's very rare for a facility nowadays to completely pay for itself," he said.

The toll study looked at the financial feasibility of tolling the entire 145-mile stretch from Lafayette to New Orleans or tolling only segments within that stretch, with tolls collected in each segment supporting work only in that segment.

The study found that tolls collected along the entire 145-mile route could pay from 26 percent to 51 percent of the project.

The numbers were similar – 27 percent to 53 percent – if tolls were collected only on the portion from I-10 stretching 59 miles south to the Wax Lake outlet.

The figures looked better for a 50-mile stretch about midway between Lafayette and New Orleans – toll funding could pay for 54 percent to 106 percent of the project – but most of that portion is already complete.

The study assumes tolls starting at a rate of 18 cents a mile and rising over 15 years to 25 cents a mile.

Personally, I don't think this will fly very well, since this will be the only segment of the entire I-49 expansion to Kansas City even considering tolling, and that I-49 from Shreveport north was built using "free" funding. Better to explore non-toll innovative funding or simply bite the bullet and call for a "TIMED2"/TIFF/inflation-indexed gas tax increase to fund this project.


UPDATE: The Lafayette/Acadiana edition of the Baton Rouge-based Advocate just dropped an Op-Ed not opposing the idea of tolls for partially funding I-49 South, but with concerns about how it would sell with the locals, as well as calling for more funding sources, with or without tolls. Full opinion is here.

[jbnv]

One of the scenarios involved slapping tolls on the segment of US 90 between Morgan City and Raceland; that one came up most feasible for using tolls for completion. The fact that that segment is already fully complete and running as a freeway apparently didn't come up for discussion, nor the obvious outcry from residents who probably would not like paying tolls on a highway they've already funded for free thanks to the TIMED program.

If they don't like the tolls, they can use the old highway (now LA 182) to get to/from Morgan City, Houma, Raceland, etc.

People will have to realize that tolled limited-access highways are the future. There's simply no way around it, not if you want to actually use the highway in your lifetime. Making the interstate system free was a big mistake.

[Anthony_JK]

Not the point...that segment of US 90 was completed in the 1990's with state public funds (via the TIMED program). The locals may feel that they've already paid enough to fund it in the first place, so why tack on an addition toll there just to pay for upgrading other segments of US 90?

If you are going to be consistent with that position, why not simply convert ALL of Louisiana's Interstate highways to tollways, then?

Personally, I think they've reduced the cost of I-49 South significantly enough that tolls may not be necessary. But, we shall see.

[jbnv]

If you are going to be consistent with that position, why not simply convert ALL of Louisiana's Interstate highways to tollways, then?

I would do that. I think the Atchafalaya Basin bridge should be tolled with all of the transnational and commercial traffic that crosses it. (Very few people, pretty much all locals, would go to US 190 to avoid the tolls.) Maybe if we had had tolls on our interstates from the beginning, they wouldn't have gotten as bad as they did.

[Scott5114]

An initial lack of tolling isn't a fault with the Interstate System. The problem is a lack of political will to keep the gas tax where is was at the time of the system's construction, as inflation chips away at it. If we had that, there would be no need for tolls.

[jbnv]

An initial lack of tolling isn't a fault with the Interstate System. The problem is a lack of political will to keep the gas tax where is was at the time of the system's construction, as inflation chips away at it. If we had that, there would be no need for tolls.

With all due respect, I oppose the idea of taxing one thing to pay for something else. By tolling the interstates, those who use them pay for them. That's my idea of fairness.

[codyg1985]

What guarantee is there that any method of collecting revenue, whether it be from gas taxes or tolls, won't be diverted to pay for something else? That is part of what is happening now, especially at the state and local levels.