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.

Christmas present turned Mardi Gras throw

Times-Picayune - New and improved I-10 is still months away

I wonder who screwed up here. The fix is most certainly not in, unlike most other situations across the lake. In this case, the asphalt wasn't started in time, so now it'll have to wait until after the winter months. Don't know why the hell they couldn't have surfaced it with concrete, but what's done is done, and we'll have to wait a few more months for the Causeway Blvd. chokepoint.

Rebuilding and redesigning the interchange between I-10 and Causeway is the next step in the process to upgrade I-10 to more modern standards and capacity. Yay.

Speaking of Causeway... bonus coverage!

Times-Picayune - Causeway storm-surge fix poses challenge for Corps of Engineers

Here, the idea is to raise the southern approaches to the Causeway to about 16 feet or so, as part of the ongoing project to strengthen the area's protection against storm surge, in this case by raising the levees. The trick is, the approaches kind of suck as it is, considering all the traffic that uses the bridge on a daily basis.

While there is room in the median to move the lanes around, and the existing approaches shouldn't have to be messed with much, it's still going to be the kind of headache that rivals most hangovers.

So far, the project is hopefully able to begin in 2010, sometime between late spring and early winter, but it's not possible to pin a clear date on it do far in advance.

Either of these projects will prove to be a nightmare for traffic for years to come. As always, I suggest going out of the way, mostly because I avoid the Causeway like the plague anyway. 24 miles over water with no shoulders... makes me nervous.

Lafayette: Loop and I-49 connector slow to get funding

The Daily Advertiser: Proposed road projects tied up

Funding crunches seem to be hitting everywhere these days, and Louisiana is proving to be no different. Lafayette's wanting to build a connector for I-49, an elevated freeway roughly covering the existing Evangeline Thruway route. This looks like it would be the "missing link" for the future route. There's also talk of a toll loop, which on a preliminary basis would connect I-49 near Carencro, I-10 near Scott and US 90 near Youngsville. (Personally, I think the loop would see little use as a toll road, but that's my opinion... this from someone who used to go out of the way to I-55 or I-10 to avoid Causeway tolls when gas was cheap. ...Anyway.) They think tolls will pay for the loop, but they can't find the startup money for it.

I can think of a few projects around the state that could use work first, to be honest. Still, as the price rises for everything and even state Departments of Transportation start feeling the hurt, I'm not optimistic. Until oil prices crash, I see DOTs struggling even to fund emergency maintenence, unless taxes go up drastically... and people can prove to be NIMBYs about taxes just as easily as they can about roadways or other development.

News on Interstate 69 Louisiana Segment

(Note: I did NOT steal the shield picture from AARoads, I just learned how to use lighting effects in the GIMP to replicate their effect.)

Shreveport Times: Louisiana route narrowed but cloudy

So, the announcement that Texas is going to use existing highways for IH 69 does kind of affect where it's going to run through Louisiana, or if it's going to run through the state at all. Right now, the strongest possibility is that it's going to run along US 59 in Texas, up to the junction with US 84 and US 96 in Teneha, and from there east to Logansport generally along US 84, running into Louisiana and angling northeast toward Arkansas along entirely new roads.

Another idea takes IH 69 from Teneha north along US 59 all the way to IH 30 near Texarkana, bypassing Louisiana entirely. In my opinion, this is the bad idea.

Some plans have the TTC (Trans-Texas Corridor) still in the works, just in a different form, using US 59 northward from Teneha as IH 69 takes the path to the east. I have no opinion on this, other than that IH 69 needs to come into Louisiana. Northern Louisiana badly needs the development another Interstate would bring.

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.