re: Lake Charles "Postpones" Decades Old Festival

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NOW we have a discussion

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Two possible changes coming to Lake Charles traffic that should be interesting to watch.

1. Tolling the Calcasieu River Bridge removes that section of highway from the Eisenhower Interstate System. That could mean I-10 gets switched to the I-210 route. That might end up diverting a lot more traffic through the heart of Lake Charles, which is much more inviting for exiting than the current Interstate through downtown. That could help local businesses get more out-of-town traffic, but will obviously cause more traffic problems on the surface streets and approaches/interchanges.

2. I'm wondering if the extension of Nelson Road over Contraband Bayou could be a game changer for downtown. Right now, getting from southern Nelson Road to downtown is a pain, requiring a lot of zig-zagging through the grid to get there. Having Nelson be able to feed directly into the old part of Lake Charles down Sallier Street would make downtown a quicker and easier destination for the commuters you want spending time/money downtown. We'll see, I guess.