New Bridge will not help BR traffic much

If we can’t have a newer bridge can we get 2 or 3 used ferries to carry cars across the river?
Guess we can return to 1928.

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There is no location for a new bridge in BR that will do much for healing traffic on I 10.

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The proposed bridge in Plaquemine could be tied into I-10 at Grosse Tete but the BTR side would need some improvement

No one over 50 that lives a fully expected life will ever see a new bridge in Baton Rouge before they die.

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I used that route a few times over the last ~10 years and it’s better than going through BR as it is. Not one traffic backup. Very few traffic light stops outside of Lafayette.

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Same here. That is the only way I have gone for years.

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New Bridge will not help BR traffic much

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Wrong. If put in the correct place and made as part of a southern loop, it would help traffic tremendously. The problem is the Corps has ruled out the best spot (the purple line), which would be between Brusly and Addis on the west side and near Farr Park on the west.



The yellow line is the area currently under consideration and then my take on what would be needed to make a loop enough drivers would consider worthwhile enough to take a bridge so far south.

There are two classifications of traffic to address: pass-through and local/regional.

A bridge (as part of a loop) between Brusly/Addis would serve multiple functions.

1. It opens up the area from Plaquemine to I-10 from being a slave to LA 1 by giving another corridor for east-west traffic.

2. It allows for a bypass for all traffic going south of Baton Rouge (which generally isn't as much as what goes along 12, unless it's Mardi Gras or some other big event).

3. It allows a bypass for pass-through traffic just going through the state (ie: nowhere in La is their destination).

4. When combined with extra lanes on Nicholson/30 being extended down to it, it creates another large corridor for LSU traffic (thus pulling some of the traffic off of 10/12).

5. Population follows interstates, we've already seen this with the growth of Gonzales and Prairieville on 10 and Denham Springs and Livingston along 12. Those migrations are part of the problem as they are concentrated along those two corridors. Adding another corridor allows those concentration levels to lower as some of it spreads along the new route (especially on the west side of the Intracoastal).

Just from personal observation of dealing with traffic along the 110/10/12 corridor almost every day for nearly twenty years, it wouldn't surprise me to see such a loop cut down on the amount of traffic coming across the "New Bridge" by ~30% (which becomes more impactful when you factor in the amount of slow-moving semis which would find a loop more attractive). As some of the glut of interstate traffic migrates to the new route, people normally taking surface streets to avoid the crowded interstate would move to those, thus lessening the burden on surface streets.

Once you get past Laffy, how much of US 90 is interstate quality these days?

I come from Houston to NO once a year or so and I’ve always stayed on 10.

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There is no location for a new bridge in BR that will do much for healing traffic on I 10. Finishing I-49 from Lafayette to West Bank Expressway would help some. Creating an Interstate quality Highway out of 3127 from 310 and extending it to I-10 on the Westbank would also be of benefit as it would tie into the Hale Boggs Bridge, the Grammercy -Wallace Bridge, and the Sunshine Bridge as River crossings. This would allow traffic from NO to bypass BR.

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You're assuming that everyone crossing the I-10 bridge is heading to New Orleans? The bulk of passthrough truck traffic is going I-12. The rest of the traffic is local traffic. We just want help with giving the local traffic another route to ease congestion on the main choke point that makes everyone get over to one lane by design. If there's one truck stall or fender bender, we're all fricked. A bridge that can avoid going through all the traffic lights in Addis/Plaquemine and somehow tie back into I-10 around the Ascension/EBR line is the best option. If we can somehow extend that over to I-12, that's the next best option. Need a Loop, but we'll take a southern half loop.

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Once you get past Laffy, how much of US 90 is interstate quality these days?

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It’s mostly 4-lane with a dividing median, and some stretches with frontage roads.

There are little towns with traffic lights, but overall it saves time over I-10.

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You're assuming that everyone crossing the I-10 bridge is heading to New Orleans?

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No. But traffic headed West from NO and ports would benefit from 49 being completed to avoid BR and the Basin Bridge. Traffic East bound headed to NO/Ports also. Traffic passing through From East or West not stopping in BR or NO would use 10/12 I agree

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The ability to build a loop where your purple line is was lost 40-50 years ago. The ability to build a loop where your yellow line is was lost 30-40 years ago. You aren’t going to build an interstate through all these major developments.

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I don't disagree. If there was the political will to do so, it could happen but such a tremendous amount of political will (especially if it needs to be sustained for years) simply doesn't exist here.

My point was that it would be the best option, if it were at all possible. Having another bridge would provide some marginal utility, but without a loop connecting it to 10 & 12, that utility is incredibly niche.