Walkabout UPD*TE

Tropical depression possibly coming ashore. Camera dies, so I gotta get a new one. Feet are killing me. One of the pictures is on the Interstate itself and I went on foot.

Does that make me dedicated, hardcore or insane? You be the judge.

First, some new signage:



These signs appear to be going up on every Interstate in Louisiana - at the least, I saw them on I-12 between Exits 63 and 83, and apparently they're on I-10 between the I-12/I-59 split and the Louisiana/Mississippi state line.

Damn, my feet hurt. Owww.

Updated:

LA 1088: Three new shots eastbound near the new interchange with I-12. Two new shots westbound, same area. Updated a lot of the captions to reflect the new interchange's existence.
I-12: The shot above, plus one more close to Exit 68.

More coming as soon as I'm not in so much pain. Where's the ice?

LA 1088/I-12 interchange contract to be awarded this month

NOLA.com - Contract to be awarded this month for new I-12 interchange near Mandeville

It's about damn time, coming from someone who lives within walking distance of the area where roadwork will commence. We've been waiting for this interchange to be built for my entire life, it seems. It's always been pushed back. Just to keep waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

Now is the time. I ranted against a school being built on 1088 between I-12 and LA 36 back in February because of the lack of an interchange and the potential for a traffic jam right in front of my house. Of course, who listens to me? They opened it anyway. At least traffic's not so bad... yet.

Once they begin work on the interchange, it will become a nightmare. Why? Because they'll be improving LA 1088 to a divided highway in the process. This is still a good thing, as the added capacity for LA 1088 will be needed. It's not just for the locals - traffic in Mandeville proper will be able to shave about six miles from an eastbound trip on the Interstate over the current interchange at LA 59. It'll relieve that interchange of some traffic from the south and from the north (connecting to I-12 from LA 1088 shaves even more mileage over LA 36 West and LA 59 south to I-12 - though far fewer people live on parts of LA 36 that would benefit, and no one lives on that part of 1088 yet.) Problem is, traffic at that interchange is insane, and even 1/4 of that traffic would choke a two-lane highway.

But the process of widening 1088 would choke things up for a while even if they left the existing two-lane carriageway alone while they built one parallel.

Still, gripes aside, this is something that has been needed in the worst way for years and will relieve traffic all over the extended Mandeville area. Plus, it's an interchange I could photograph by walking... can't wait for that opportunity.

Warning: Very Profane Rant.

Times-Picayune - State vows I-12 link in St. Tammany will be built

You vow, huh? Ain't you been vowing to get the damn interchange built for years now? I seem to remember that it was supposed to be built in the '90s as part of the LA 3241 project. As a standalone, it's been pushed back several times in the last few years alone. I'd still be willing to wait even now if waiting for that highway was an option. But at a time like this, it's not optional anymore. There's a school going up soon, a high school that will choke a "minor secondary highway" to the point of being absolutely useless. Ten miles of peaceful driving will soon become ten miles of brain-numbing gridlock.

There's plenty of problems with that scenario. First off, LA 1088 isn't "minor" or "secondary" to the people who live on it. It's our lifeline to the rest of the world. As it is, I have to go way out of my way to get anywhere now without having to pass through a damn school zone. I'm sure others here feel the same way, they're just too scared of getting lynched by the pro-family morons to make a peep. There's also the fact that any traffic coming in from the west or south have to go through a residential neighborhood to get to that school, until the interchange is built.

Seriously, what the hell are you idiots at DoTD smoking? Do you bastards remember how badly LA 59 was choked in the 90's having to support a high school, and how much it worsened when the junior high opened up next door? Those kind of schools, a two-lane highway simply can not do the job. Even a two-lane highway with a turning lane of some kind can't handle it. High schools in this area require four lanes at minimum to ease any impact on traffic.

Remember, you not only have to deal with bus traffic, car traffic from parents dropping their kids off and more car traffic from faculty going to work daily, you also have to deal with hundreds of stupid teenagers trying to get in there at the last possible minute because they overslept. You hope they were cramming for exams, but they were probably either getting high or getting laid. Most likely, both. The teenagers around here are far from being angels, after all. (I speak from personal experience.)

In case you've forgotten about all this, feel free to drop by any time. The gridlock's still there, all those years later.

At the least, though, LA 59 has an interchange at I-12 that helps relieve some of the traffic. LA 59 North past the Interstate is a breeze even during school zone hours. Ah, but LA 1088 doesn't. It needs it before anyone even thinks of opening a damn high school. Yes, I'm also talking to you, St. Tammany Parish School Board.

What makes you think some of us want a gridlock and beaten sheep factory on our highway anyway? (Calm, calm... I will not be a NIMBY, I will not be a NIMBY...)

Fact remains, at the moment, the roads in the area of that new school can't possibly support it. Aside from being a lonely two-lane highway, there are no lights... in fact, there's nothing nearby. The nearest Sheriff's substation is about 12 minutes away. 12 minutes is a lot of time for mischief and mayhem. It's a ton of time if someone gets hurt or worse. There's no services nearby - if you run out of gas or overheat your car, you're mega-screwed. In fact, that school's almost begging to become an unofficial annex of Lacombe (which is the crackhead and crime capital of the parish).

They may as well call it Lacombe North already.

At the least, can't they hold off opening the thing until there's an interchange, so a residential neighborhood can be spared a lot of headaches, unnecessary emissions and noise? More importantly, so my sanity can be spared? Some of us like being able to start the day with a few miles at max speed before hitting Congestion City, after all.

They can't and they won't, naturally. Delays are only tolerable so long as a school isn't affected. "Think of the children," after all. I say to hell with the damned children already. "Why" is a matter for a different post entirely, probably on the Livejournal.

Anyway.

So I'm putting any of the politicians who have any chance of getting either the school delayed or the interchange sped up on notice here - if you open that school sooner than an interchange is built and we suffer here due to it, you're not only getting a no vote from me, but from others. There are more than just me who think as I do, and I will rally them. Me personally, if it's you versus Charles Manson in the next election, I'll vote for Manson just to spite you. If it's you versus Satan himself, then I'm wearing my "Satan (next election year for your seat)" button proudly. I don't care if your next opponent's a thief, a serial killer, or if they eat babies. You will become the greatest of all evils in my eyes. I'll do everything in my power to put them over and shut you down.

Build the interchange first before you even think of overloading our highway system, or you will find out how bleak your careers are in the face of an angry voter with no life. I don't care if you in Baton Rouge have to use some of the one-time surplus this year... I don't care if you have to use it all, every last dime. Get this thing done, pronto!

P.S. - You should have never re-paved the section of 1088 north of I-12, DoTD. It would have been nice to make all those "elite" idiots lose their suspension for a year or two on that road. :P

Stimulus Wishlist

Times-Picayune - Louisiana's share of stimulus pegged at $3.8 billion

Of that, $455 million is slated to go to bridge and road work and repairs. Here's some of the things I'd do with that if I was in charge of DoTD and wasn't hampered by pre-work things like environmental impact studies. (They're important, but not for hypothetical thinking.)

* Widening of Interstate 12 between Juban Road and I-10/I-59 to six lanes
* Putting gates and lights at all non-private rail crossings in the state
* Reconfiguration of the I-10/I-110 split in Baton Rouge
* Construction of an interchange between LA 1088 (Future LA 3241) and I-12 northeast of Mandeville
* Build a relief route for I-59 (designated as US 11) in eastern St. Tammany Parish (looking forward to hurricane season), utilizing the old US 11 routing if possible (it was good enough before) - US 11 can still cross the West Pearl co-signed with I-59 to save money

Now, obviously that kind of money might not be enough, especially with that I-10/110 split reconfiguration in there, but those are projects that I believe would drastically help traffic flow, especially in the Florida Parishes. That includes the relief route. I blogged last year about how hellish I-59 was, and I believe a relief route could at least make it a little easier to get the first important thing out of the way - getting the hell out of Louisiana when there's a hurricane coming. Designating it as US 11 just makes sense - it'd make that highway important here again.

As for the gates and lights suggestion, that's just my little pet crusade.

A few more photos

A trip to Slidell today spawned about 40 or so new photos.

New:
LA 434: Coverage of northbound between I-12 and LA 36, as well as some pictures along the concurrency with US 190 in Lacombe.

Updated:
I-10: Added photos from westbound approaching and of the new Exit 265 interchange with US 190 Business in Slidell.
I-12: Added coverage along westbound approaching and of Exit 74 (LA 434).
US 11: Added a couple of photos of the concurrency in Slidell with LA 433.
US 190: Added coverage eastbound through Lacombe and Slidell, as well as at the intersection with hidden LA 1089. Also, I caught a snap of an idiot parked on the train tracks at the intersection with US 11.
LA 433: Added coverage of westbound and northbound from US 11 to US 190, mostly along the Bayou Liberty Road and Thompson Road segments.
LA 1088: Added a couple of photos of westbound, north of I-12.
Former LA 1093-2: Changed directory name to reflect removal of all signage previously found in August.

More pics. Yay!

To be brief, I've got over 50 new pics to get uploaded and posted everyplace sometime soon. There's a few more shots along LA 1088, LA 59, I-12, US 190, LA 22, West Causeway Approach and LA 1087.

I also managed to get a live snap of possibly the only Parish Route sign left in St. Tammany, a lone Parish Route 24 sign at the eastern terminus of Sharp Road near Mandeville. (This would be analogous to a County Route shield anyplace else in the country.)

More updates as I get them posted... and as I sober up. Wheeee, vodka.

More highway albums up

As the title says. I've got a few more albums up, these of some of the state highways in the parish. (All links open in a new window or tab, depending on your browser's settings.)

LA 36 - Mostly of sights from where other highways terminate along it, and of the traffic circle in Abita Springs.
LA 59 - Some shots from the southern terminus, the LA 1088 terminus, some from Abita, and of the traffic circle in Abita Springs. (Is there an echo in here?)
LA 1087 - Shots from along the useless state highway cutting through the center of Old Mandeville.
LA 1088 - Hey look, I can see my house from here! Also, some shots from both termini and from the overpass.
LA 3228 - Three shots along LA 3228 (Old US 190, Old LA 25) in Mandeville.

Also, Operation Coordinates is 100% complete.

...No, not Calbog's abortion, I mean that all photos on my Picasa are geotagged. Each one's got coordinates.

Great, now they've got me Flickring...

Ok, so I feel lame, and yet not. Maybe sleep would help.

In the meantime, I got a LOT of snaps today, as well as the ones from last week. I'm talking like 120 of them, taken, cropped and fix0rd in one day. They'll go up on my Photobucket and Accueil sometime during the week, but they're on my Flickr right this minute if you need instant gratification. They're mostly placed by sets for the time being.

I'll be adding the older snaps to the Flickr page as time permits as well.

(Sorry. Lotsa tags apply here.)

I took another bicycle trip and nearly died. Plus 52 snaps from three different cameras.

Today, I covered around 30 miles on a bicycle, taking snaps of one terminus each of LA 434 and LA 435 and both termini of LA 1088. A few of the LA 434 snaps catch some of the new monochrome shields in the wild. There are many other assorted highway shots along the way, as well as some unexpected railfan snaps from along the Tammany Trace and a few shots of buildings in Abita Springs. There's even one shot of a Clearview street sine in Mandeville.

As well, I almost died traversing LA 36 between LA 1088 and LA 59. And I got rained on. A lot. So you'd better like the snaps. Or I'll hurt you.

Anyway, the snaps are here.

Edit: They're also here if you have an aversion to Photobucket or something.

Fantasy: Interstate 512 (Louisiana)

Apparently the neighbors have been checking up on a project. You see, there's an interchange in the works for LA 1088 and I-12, which is within walking distance from my house. It is supposed to be accompanied by LA 3241, which is meant to be a connector from I-12 to Bogalusa. My house will be safe. Sadly, so will my aunt's place.

Anyway, that got my brain turning. If this highway does its job, it'll spur growth in Washington Parish. Why not skip ahead and connect Washington Parish to the Interstate System? That's where this fantasy rundown comes in.



Exit list runs from south to north as you scroll down. Exits are mileage-based, but are estimates only. Sadly, between the NIMBYs and environmentalists, this will likely remain only fantasy. Ah, well. Strap in.

Exit 69, I-12: I-512 North to Bogalusa
Complex is a trumpet interchange
I-512 begins/ends at interchange
(Southbound only, 2 lanes): Mainline defaults on to I-12 West to Hammond
1A (Southbound only, 1 lane, left exit): I-12 East To I-10 and I-59, to Slidell

1B (Southbound, 2 lane exit): LA 1088 West to Mandeville
Partial Y-interchange
No access to SB I-512 from EB LA 1088
No access to WB LA 1088 from NB I-512
LA 1088 begins/ends at interchange
(Exits 1A and 1B will exist within a mile of each other)

3: Fish Hatchery Road to LA 1093-1, Lacombe
Compact diamond interchange
Contingent on paving of Fish Hatchery

5: LA 36 to Abita Springs, Pearl River
Compact diamond interchange
Current northern terminus of LA 1088, intersection exists at-grade

9: LA 435 to Abita Springs, Talisheek
Diamond interchange
NB LA 41 accesses SB I-512 here via LA 435

10: LA 41 South To LA 435 to Pearl River, Talisheek, Abita Springs
Partial Y interchange
No access from NB LA 41 to SB I-512
LA 41 begins/ends at interchange

13A: LA 40 West (NB: LA 40 West To LA 21) to Bush, Folsom (Covington)
Diamond interchange
NB LA 21 accesses SB I-512 here via LA 40
NB I-512 accesses SB LA 21 here via LA 40
LA 40 begins/ends at interchange

13B (Southbound): LA 21 South to Covington
Compact Y interchange
No access from NB LA 21 to SB I-512
No access from NB I-512 to SB LA 21
LA 21 enters multiplex with I-512 northbound
Current northern terminus of LA 41

15: LA 16 West to Sun
Diamond interchange on south side
Texas-style interchange using slip ramps to/from frontage roads on north side
Frontage roads begin northbound/end southbound
LA 16 begins/ends at interchange

--Washington/St. Tammany parish line--

18: LA 1075 North to Bogalusa
Texas-style interchange using slip ramps to/from frontage roads
LA 1075 begins/ends at interchange

24: LA 3124 North to Downtown Bogalusa
Diamond interchange
Frontage roads end northbound/begin southbound
I-512 begins/ends at interchange
LA 3124 begins/ends at interchange
Northbound defaults to LA 21 to Bogalusa
LA 21 enters multiplex with I-512 southbound

You knew this was coming... plus RARE black and white LA highway shield!

The time you, my two readers, have all feared... it has come to pass. I went out today, and while the primary reason was to go buy cigarettes, I had an ulterior motive as well... I took pictures. Pictures of sines, of roadwork and termini of my current locale... a place called Mandeville. Be very afraid. Yuppies and MFFYs will devour your soul here.

The pictures were all taken with a disposable 35mm camera, so I apologize now for a lack of quality. We can't all be rich.

Here's the promised B&W Louisiana highway shield (click to zoom):


Click here for all the pics from today... I've provided descriptions there, but if I screwed up a description, let me know by posting a comment here on the blog.