State to restripe I-10 bridge exit (source: The Advocate)
For the longest time, I-10's Exit 153 (LA 1) westbound was striped as a right lane exit-only, center lane exit-optional setup. And it worked well enough.
So apparently someone at DoTD had the bright idea to get rid of the middle-lane optional and force all exiting traffic to use the right lane. (My guess is that they got stuck in the middle lane in rush hour.) And it SUCKED for exiting traffic.
Now they're changing it back to right lane exit-only, middle lane exit optional.
Moral of the story? Don't mess with a good thing if you have no idea what the hell you're doing.
This is problematic, though. All along, it should have been four lanes - two for westbound I-10 to continue on, two for exiting onto LA 1. No optional lane. Room enough for breakdown lanes, too. The problem is, we've only built to current capacity at the time an upgrade or new construction effort began, and at the time, three travel lanes and no shoulders seemed to be enough. With a surface route or a short bridge, that's less of an issue, but something the scale of the Horace Wilkerson Bridge? I think it should have been four lanes plus full shoulders each way all along, even if one of those lanes went unused for several years.
Now we can't. The bridge is too important to Baton Rouge's traffic flow. The only solution is going to require an upgrade. Perhaps it's time to start looking into realigning I-10.
Showing posts with label baton rouge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baton rouge. Show all posts
09 September 2011
31 August 2011
Long-awaited (full) UPD*TE
Ok, that's done. Looks like I was only able to salvage a few pictures from last year's Idaho trip, and an entire camera is still missing with many more of the I-84 shots, along with the I-15/84 multiplex shots. Damn, damn, damn. I hope it's around here, because I don't envision myself heading back that way during my lifetime.
New:
I-84 (western): 56 shots eastbound from just west of Boise, Idaho to the eastern terminus in Echo, UT
Updated:
I-10: Added 13 shots along eastbound in and near Baton Rouge
New:
I-84 (western): 56 shots eastbound from just west of Boise, Idaho to the eastern terminus in Echo, UT
Updated:
I-10: Added 13 shots along eastbound in and near Baton Rouge
01 May 2009
Some miles down, about seventy to go
The Advocate - I-12 work to begin
...And so it begins. The end is near for the daily gridlock at LA 3245 (O'Neal Lane) and Interstate 12. Work will begin to widen I-12 to three lanes from O'Neal Lane to just east of Pete's Highway eastbound, and from 4-H Club Road to O'Neal westbound. The hardest bit will most likely be widening the bridges crossing the Amite River - as they stand right now, they are only two lanes wide with absolutely no shoulders to speak of. I'm hoping they add some shoulders with those new travel lanes.
The project is slated to be complete by Thanksgiving 2011, meaning traffic will exceed the work done by the day after Thanksgiving 2011. Going only that far will do nothing but move the daily gridlock from O'Neal over to Denham Springs. The rest of I-12 to the east will continue to be perpetually overloaded with truckers who think they're driving Ferraris, career women weaving from the acceleration lane to the #1 lane at 90mph while fixing their makeup and sipping coffee, and unsafe vehicles carrying their nonsecure loads at ten miles under the speed limit.
In other words, this is where I again advocate for the entirety of I-12 to be widened to no less than three travel lanes in either direction. Don't get me wrong, this is a good start. I'm just saying that while this work is going on, we as a state should be putting together what's needed to widen another segment afterward.
...And so it begins. The end is near for the daily gridlock at LA 3245 (O'Neal Lane) and Interstate 12. Work will begin to widen I-12 to three lanes from O'Neal Lane to just east of Pete's Highway eastbound, and from 4-H Club Road to O'Neal westbound. The hardest bit will most likely be widening the bridges crossing the Amite River - as they stand right now, they are only two lanes wide with absolutely no shoulders to speak of. I'm hoping they add some shoulders with those new travel lanes.
The project is slated to be complete by Thanksgiving 2011, meaning traffic will exceed the work done by the day after Thanksgiving 2011. Going only that far will do nothing but move the daily gridlock from O'Neal over to Denham Springs. The rest of I-12 to the east will continue to be perpetually overloaded with truckers who think they're driving Ferraris, career women weaving from the acceleration lane to the #1 lane at 90mph while fixing their makeup and sipping coffee, and unsafe vehicles carrying their nonsecure loads at ten miles under the speed limit.
In other words, this is where I again advocate for the entirety of I-12 to be widened to no less than three travel lanes in either direction. Don't get me wrong, this is a good start. I'm just saying that while this work is going on, we as a state should be putting together what's needed to widen another segment afterward.
04 January 2009
Impending Baton Rouge chokepoint...
The Advocate - Project on I-10 to begin
Vague title, but the section in question is the one immediately east of the I-10/I-12 split in Baton Rouge, from said split to Siegen Lane, an underutilized stretch of highway (compared to I-12, itself seeing frequent congestion) that can still prove to be a headache. At only two lanes but servicing a growing commercial area, it's hitting on "underpowered" at times.
The construction should ease things through the area as each direction of I-10 will be widened by one lane. The overall project begins Monday and is slated to take about three years, costing $86.2 million.
Last month, a $100 million contract was signed for widening of part of Interstate 12. That work should begin in February, to widen eastbound I-12 from O'Neal Lane in Baton Rouge to just east of Pete's Highway in Denham Springs, and westbound from just west of 4-H Club Road to the aforementioned O'Neal. That project will last until around Thanksgiving in 2011...
As a result, Baton Rouge's eastern end will be a little trickier to get through for the next couple of years. Two alternative routes, US 61 (Airline Highway) and US 190 (Florida Blvd.) will see a lot more traffic as a result of both I-10 and I-12 seeing work. Seeing as few alternatives exist... good luck.
Vague title, but the section in question is the one immediately east of the I-10/I-12 split in Baton Rouge, from said split to Siegen Lane, an underutilized stretch of highway (compared to I-12, itself seeing frequent congestion) that can still prove to be a headache. At only two lanes but servicing a growing commercial area, it's hitting on "underpowered" at times.
The construction should ease things through the area as each direction of I-10 will be widened by one lane. The overall project begins Monday and is slated to take about three years, costing $86.2 million.
Last month, a $100 million contract was signed for widening of part of Interstate 12. That work should begin in February, to widen eastbound I-12 from O'Neal Lane in Baton Rouge to just east of Pete's Highway in Denham Springs, and westbound from just west of 4-H Club Road to the aforementioned O'Neal. That project will last until around Thanksgiving in 2011...
As a result, Baton Rouge's eastern end will be a little trickier to get through for the next couple of years. Two alternative routes, US 61 (Airline Highway) and US 190 (Florida Blvd.) will see a lot more traffic as a result of both I-10 and I-12 seeing work. Seeing as few alternatives exist... good luck.
09 May 2008
LA: Road chief says program bankrupt
The Advocate (Baton Rouge): Road Chief says program bankrupt
It all centers around a package of projects approved by voters in 1989, the Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development, or TIMED. Instead of managing this themselves, LaDOTD hired an outside firm to manage these projects. (Outside management's screwed up the Road Home, too.) Now the costs have spiraled far above what they would have originally been, partially due to inflation of course, but also due to the impact on prices from hurricanes and the rising costs of steel and concrete, as well as a dearth of firms that actually do bridge work.
As a result of this, the Transportation Secretary is saying that it might take diversions of $66 million a year from the fund for other road improvements to keep the TIMED projects afloat.
Ironically, gas prices are proving to be a double whammy for the funding. Not only does the higher cost of fuel cause the prices of materials to go up, but the prices are causing people in Louisiana to buy less gas, meaning less revenue from the gas tax to go directly into funding.
The roads in the state are degrading steadily, and many have been neglected for too long. For every Future I-49, LA 1 corridor and I-10 Twin Span replacement, there's a main highway through a small town in such bad shape that the town would be better serviced by a gravel road, or a two lane highway straining to carry more cars than a six lane highway can capably handle. We need our roads fixed, plain and simple.
The money's not going to be coming in so reliably from the fuel taxes as fuel prices rise and more people buy less to conserve their own money, so there's got to be other sources of funding. Maybe instead of the Legislature voting themselves a fourfold raise for part-time work, they should put that money towards the highways. Also, Louisiana gets a good bit of money from oil development, and the high price of oil is actually a boon to the state budget. Maybe we could put some of that toward the roads, too.
Until then, we might as well get comfortable at the bottom. We'll be here a while.
(from article)
Louisiana’s road-building agenda will suffer because a special program for 16 projects has gone bankrupt, state Transportation Secretary William Ankner said Thursday.
In addition, the state’s list of highway projects is under new pressure because gasoline tax revenue that helps pay for the work is down 7 percent, Ankner said.
The decrease in gasoline taxes stems from less driving amid higher gasoline prices, he said.
“It will probably carry forward in future years,” Ankner said of the revenue dip.
Ankner made his comments to the Joint Transportation Committee and in an interview afterward.
It all centers around a package of projects approved by voters in 1989, the Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development, or TIMED. Instead of managing this themselves, LaDOTD hired an outside firm to manage these projects. (Outside management's screwed up the Road Home, too.) Now the costs have spiraled far above what they would have originally been, partially due to inflation of course, but also due to the impact on prices from hurricanes and the rising costs of steel and concrete, as well as a dearth of firms that actually do bridge work.
As a result of this, the Transportation Secretary is saying that it might take diversions of $66 million a year from the fund for other road improvements to keep the TIMED projects afloat.
Ironically, gas prices are proving to be a double whammy for the funding. Not only does the higher cost of fuel cause the prices of materials to go up, but the prices are causing people in Louisiana to buy less gas, meaning less revenue from the gas tax to go directly into funding.
The roads in the state are degrading steadily, and many have been neglected for too long. For every Future I-49, LA 1 corridor and I-10 Twin Span replacement, there's a main highway through a small town in such bad shape that the town would be better serviced by a gravel road, or a two lane highway straining to carry more cars than a six lane highway can capably handle. We need our roads fixed, plain and simple.
The money's not going to be coming in so reliably from the fuel taxes as fuel prices rise and more people buy less to conserve their own money, so there's got to be other sources of funding. Maybe instead of the Legislature voting themselves a fourfold raise for part-time work, they should put that money towards the highways. Also, Louisiana gets a good bit of money from oil development, and the high price of oil is actually a boon to the state budget. Maybe we could put some of that toward the roads, too.
Until then, we might as well get comfortable at the bottom. We'll be here a while.
29 April 2008
Port Vincent NIMBYs speak out about proposed BR loop
From WBRZ-TV - Port Vincent Residents Speak Out (Video)
...Let me get this straight. The loop is badly needed at this stage. Traffic counts in Metro Baton Rouge along the I-10 (from Milepost 159 west to the river) and I-12 (out to and beyond the Livingston Parish line) are insane, and the companion US Route(s) aren't any better an alternative. The latest proposal for the Port Vincent area (east of BR) is a bypass of the town, meant to impact as few homes as possible, and they still want to pull the NIMBY crap?
I've driven through Baton Rouge many times, both on the I-10/12 main drag, and on the US 61/190 Bypass (Airline Highway). It is PATHETIC. If there's even a hint of daylight, good luck getting through there in any sort of decent time. The traffic sometimes makes New Orleans look like a niche rural destination. The loop would make life easier for a lot of travelers, and for those who actually have to drive through the city center.
Instead, they're worried about trash. Trash! Come on, that's a pathetic reason. The bypass is needed as bad as a six-laning of I-12 for its entire duration.
...Let me get this straight. The loop is badly needed at this stage. Traffic counts in Metro Baton Rouge along the I-10 (from Milepost 159 west to the river) and I-12 (out to and beyond the Livingston Parish line) are insane, and the companion US Route(s) aren't any better an alternative. The latest proposal for the Port Vincent area (east of BR) is a bypass of the town, meant to impact as few homes as possible, and they still want to pull the NIMBY crap?
I've driven through Baton Rouge many times, both on the I-10/12 main drag, and on the US 61/190 Bypass (Airline Highway). It is PATHETIC. If there's even a hint of daylight, good luck getting through there in any sort of decent time. The traffic sometimes makes New Orleans look like a niche rural destination. The loop would make life easier for a lot of travelers, and for those who actually have to drive through the city center.
Instead, they're worried about trash. Trash! Come on, that's a pathetic reason. The bypass is needed as bad as a six-laning of I-12 for its entire duration.
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