Acadian Interchange: Why is a double diamond proposal not included? This could eliminate some light cycles? Can oak trees be maintained? Request landscaping, sidewalks, and nice lighting from interchange to Perkins Road and Bawell. Not just brick pavers in the medians. Provide protection for pedestrians to separate them from traffic. Acadian Thruway is a major entry/exit point for people visiting LSU, and it needs to look nice. Drainage issue at the railroad trestle MUST be fixed. It is unacceptable for all the traffic to be funneled to Acadian, and then for it to flood. Is the elevation of Acadian being raised? Is Dawson Creek being cleaned out or its elevation lowered? The trestle needs to be replaced, widened, and made more aesthetically pleasing. Is the pump replacement part of this project or a separate project? Has capacity analysis already been done? How can interested parties review the analysis (public record)? Turn lane from NB Acadian to EB I-10 should be extended as far S as possible. The adjacent shopping center (Burgersmith etc.) has 3 driveways to Acadian thruway which are all very close together – this seems excessive, and they could be reduced in order to allow extension of the EB on ramp. Acadian/Perkins intersection is not being reworked in this proposal. This is unacceptable. The amount of traffic will increase greatly, and the intersection must be reworked in order to move traffic through more quickly, and to prevent traffic from funneling off of Stanford and Perkins onto the very narrow residential streets in the area. Context Sensitive Solution Examples: Trails, Polk Street Park, Dalrymple, Louise St.: Again, are these included in the project, or are these simply ideas for what could be done after the fact? I’d love to see BREC work in conjunction with DOTD to provide some of these (climbing wall, skate park) at Expressway Park and East Polk Park. Bike trails/concept trails, improved sidewalks, lighting, and landscaping should be included at each of these locations. Murals and art installations are also great ideas. Bike trail/concept trail connection ideas for Dalrymple look great. The bridge over Dalrymple needs to be reviewed and improved. Dalrymple is a major entry/exit point for people visiting LSU, and it needs to look nice. Perkins Road Ramp Opportunity Area: This neighborhood is vital and highly desirable. It is unfair and inappropriate for it to bear the brunt of this project without getting something in return. I hope that DOTD will find a way to work with the City, BREC, BR Green etc. to provide IMPROVEMENTS to Perkins Road from Ramp area to the Overpass. Please do not ruin our neighborhood! Need details on how DOTD plans to provide temporary parking for the businesses which have user agreements for parking beneath the interstate. Cannot just have parking on adjacent residential streets. It is imperative that this ramp area, and the widening project as a whole, provide betterment opportunities for the entire Perkins Road neighborhood. If this neighborhood is to be inconvenienced by the widening of the interstate, it is imperative that the project be of benefit to the neighborhood when it is all said and done. The area which is cleared by the demolition of the ramps must not become a large parking lot for overnight truck parking or area for homeless encampments. It must be well lit and debris/overgrowth cleared out. Reduce speed on Perkins Road to 35 mpg from Acadian Thruway to Perkins Road Overpass. Overpass Merchant/Scimeca Building: this is believed to be the oldest building in the Perkins Road historic business district (late 1920s/early 1930s) and must be maintained/protected. Greenwood Ave: When the current on/off ramps are demolished, I’d like to see Greenwood Ave connected to the existing light on Perkins (at the ramp location). If Greenwood runs one-way from NW to SE, and the side streets (Christian, Hollydale, Ferndale, Cedardale) run one-way from S to N to connect to Greenwood, it would provide circulation through the business area, and allow connection back to Perkins Road at a light, thus reducing the number of cars trying to turn left across traffic. The Acadian Village shopping center could also connect to the newly extended Greenwood to give them an additional exit from their very busy parking lot to Perkins Road. The section of Perkins Road from the Overpass to Acadian Village is one of the few actually walkable areas of Baton Rouge. Points of conflict between pedestrians and cars need to be reduced. Provide improvements to the biking/pedestrian access, better lighting, improved sidewalks, improved driveways/curb cuts, and the addition of lighted crosswalks, as well as street side landscaping/trees. Perkins Road Bridge: because Perkins Road is the main corridor through the business district, the views of the Bridge should be esthetically pleasing. Parking areas beneath the interstate bridge over Perkins Road are important to the surrounding businesses. However, the current parking situation is poorly lit, not handicap accessible, poorly drained, and poorly laid out, not to mention a little scary. Parking areas should be paved, lit, include handicap accessibility, etc. See below for proposed master plan for area beneath the Perkins Road Bridge (taken from 2003 LSU Master’s Thesis by Ramon Irizarry, “Restructuring the spaces under elevated expressways: a case study of the spaces below the Interstate-10 overpass at Perkins Road in Baton Rouge, Louisiana”). This plan provides approximately 130 parking spaces beneath the interstate, introduces focal points (sculptures, fountains), provides street plantings, pedestrian access, bus stops, and a central plaza. This is the kind of planning that I would really like to see!
Response:
Interchange modifications at Acadian are included to accommodate the widening of I-10; the scope of this project does not include individual interchange redesign outside of that which is necessary to accommodate the changes to the I-10 mainline. Context senstive designs were presented during the public meetings and can be viewed on the project website at www.i10br.com. The railroad bridge will be replaced by the railroad and the pump station that serves Acadian is being considered for replacement. Any dredging or cleaning of Dawson’s Creek would be pursued by others, as it is not part of this project. Documents generated for this Environmental Assessment will be posted to the project website and are also available for viewing at DOTD’s Headquarters building in Baton Rouge. DOTD is working with the community on context senstive designs for the Perkins Road Overpass area; we appreciate your feedback on concepts.
Comment:
Acadian Interchange: Why is a double diamond proposal not included? This could eliminate some light cycles? Can oak trees be maintained? Request landscaping, sidewalks, and nice lighting from interchange to Perkins Road and Bawell. Not just brick pavers in the medians. Provide protection for pedestrians to separate them from traffic. Acadian Thruway is a major entry/exit point for people visiting LSU, and it needs to look nice. Drainage issue at the railroad trestle MUST be fixed. It is unacceptable for all the traffic to be funneled to Acadian, and then for it to flood. Is the elevation of Acadian being raised? Is Dawson Creek being cleaned out or its elevation lowered? The trestle needs to be replaced, widened, and made more aesthetically pleasing. Is the pump replacement part of this project or a separate project? Has capacity analysis already been done? How can interested parties review the analysis (public record)? Turn lane from NB Acadian to EB I-10 should be extended as far S as possible. The adjacent shopping center (Burgersmith etc.) has 3 driveways to Acadian thruway which are all very close together – this seems excessive, and they could be reduced in order to allow extension of the EB on ramp. Acadian/Perkins intersection is not being reworked in this proposal. This is unacceptable. The amount of traffic will increase greatly, and the intersection must be reworked in order to move traffic through more quickly, and to prevent traffic from funneling off of Stanford and Perkins onto the very narrow residential streets in the area. Context Sensitive Solution Examples: Trails, Polk Street Park, Dalrymple, Louise St.: Again, are these included in the project, or are these simply ideas for what could be done after the fact? I’d love to see BREC work in conjunction with DOTD to provide some of these (climbing wall, skate park) at Expressway Park and East Polk Park. Bike trails/concept trails, improved sidewalks, lighting, and landscaping should be included at each of these locations. Murals and art installations are also great ideas. Bike trail/concept trail connection ideas for Dalrymple look great. The bridge over Dalrymple needs to be reviewed and improved. Dalrymple is a major entry/exit point for people visiting LSU, and it needs to look nice. Perkins Road Ramp Opportunity Area: This neighborhood is vital and highly desirable. It is unfair and inappropriate for it to bear the brunt of this project without getting something in return. I hope that DOTD will find a way to work with the City, BREC, BR Green etc. to provide IMPROVEMENTS to Perkins Road from Ramp area to the Overpass. Please do not ruin our neighborhood! Need details on how DOTD plans to provide temporary parking for the businesses which have user agreements for parking beneath the interstate. Cannot just have parking on adjacent residential streets. It is imperative that this ramp area, and the widening project as a whole, provide betterment opportunities for the entire Perkins Road neighborhood. If this neighborhood is to be inconvenienced by the widening of the interstate, it is imperative that the project be of benefit to the neighborhood when it is all said and done. The area which is cleared by the demolition of the ramps must not become a large parking lot for overnight truck parking or area for homeless encampments. It must be well lit and debris/overgrowth cleared out. Reduce speed on Perkins Road to 35 mpg from Acadian Thruway to Perkins Road Overpass. Overpass Merchant/Scimeca Building: this is believed to be the oldest building in the Perkins Road historic business district (late 1920s/early 1930s) and must be maintained/protected. Greenwood Ave: When the current on/off ramps are demolished, I’d like to see Greenwood Ave connected to the existing light on Perkins (at the ramp location). If Greenwood runs one-way from NW to SE, and the side streets (Christian, Hollydale, Ferndale, Cedardale) run one-way from S to N to connect to Greenwood, it would provide circulation through the business area, and allow connection back to Perkins Road at a light, thus reducing the number of cars trying to turn left across traffic. The Acadian Village shopping center could also connect to the newly extended Greenwood to give them an additional exit from their very busy parking lot to Perkins Road. The section of Perkins Road from the Overpass to Acadian Village is one of the few actually walkable areas of Baton Rouge. Points of conflict between pedestrians and cars need to be reduced. Provide improvements to the biking/pedestrian access, better lighting, improved sidewalks, improved driveways/curb cuts, and the addition of lighted crosswalks, as well as street side landscaping/trees. Perkins Road Bridge: because Perkins Road is the main corridor through the business district, the views of the Bridge should be esthetically pleasing. Parking areas beneath the interstate bridge over Perkins Road are important to the surrounding businesses. However, the current parking situation is poorly lit, not handicap accessible, poorly drained, and poorly laid out, not to mention a little scary. Parking areas should be paved, lit, include handicap accessibility, etc. See below for proposed master plan for area beneath the Perkins Road Bridge (taken from 2003 LSU Master’s Thesis by Ramon Irizarry, “Restructuring the spaces under elevated expressways: a case study of the spaces below the Interstate-10 overpass at Perkins Road in Baton Rouge, Louisiana”). This plan provides approximately 130 parking spaces beneath the interstate, introduces focal points (sculptures, fountains), provides street plantings, pedestrian access, bus stops, and a central plaza. This is the kind of planning that I would really like to see!
Response:
Interchange modifications at Acadian are included to accommodate the widening of I-10; the scope of this project does not include individual interchange redesign outside of that which is necessary to accommodate the changes to the I-10 mainline. Context senstive designs were presented during the public meetings and can be viewed on the project website at www.i10br.com. The railroad bridge will be replaced by the railroad and the pump station that serves Acadian is being considered for replacement. Any dredging or cleaning of Dawson’s Creek would be pursued by others, as it is not part of this project. Documents generated for this Environmental Assessment will be posted to the project website and are also available for viewing at DOTD’s Headquarters building in Baton Rouge. DOTD is working with the community on context senstive designs for the Perkins Road Overpass area; we appreciate your feedback on concepts.