re: BR traffic today was an assraping. When will it be time?

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So we built s bridge where hardly anybody used it because BR didn't try hard enough to get it

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Baton Rouge didn't try at all.

Even if they did, the money would have flowed to New Orleans pet projects. Those TIMED projects were set in motion 30-35 years ago.

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Yes. Yes it is. It's also accurate. The money for the Audobin bridge was about to be lost so they built the bridge there as opposed to losing the funds

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The bridge was part of the Timed program presented to the voters in 1989. The bridge was approved in the statewide vote and funded by a four cent a gallon tax.

It was built to spur economic growth in that area, and with state dollars. There was no way we were going to lose those dollars if the bridge wasn't built.

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Angry, yes. Little bitch...hardly. I'm more of a fed-up, raving lunatic, anti-tax, limited government a-hole. And people like you, JBE, and SWB whose only solution is to confiscate more of my earnings can go to hell. You offer no solutions other than tax raises or other revenue raising (tolls) as opposed to calling for fiscal accountability. I'll offer you the same challenge I always do. 
If you feel you don't pay enough in taxes, send a check to the state. I'll gladly oppose you and any other tax lover as I think I pay enough already and get little if anything in return.

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Other than the raving lunatic part this pretty much describes me too.

How do you get people in the south (or the Midwest for that matter) to use the buses?

Assume for a moment that CATS did not run the Baton Rouge bus system. How to get people who can afford a car to use a bus?

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here was no way we were going to lose those dollars if the bridge wasn't built.

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bullshite. That money would have been siphoned off and used elsewhere. Regardless, EBR dicked around and couldn't get the job done. I'm not paying for their incompetence, anymore than I feel compelled to pay for their lack of vision and poor planning.

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That's exactly what happened in 1989, BR got screwed and another reason not to vote for more state taxes. We would just get screwed again.

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Yep.

And with COA, you can't trust local government either. Not to mention this is an supplement to cover at least some projects that were supposed to be completed under a tax you already voted for in 2006.

And thus far the new/additional projects that would be covered under this proposed tax have not been detailed, workshopped, or even mentioned.

It's my opinion that the biggest bottlenecks in Baton Rouge are now the long-neglected state and federal routes through the metro.

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money would have been siphoned off and used elsewhere

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True, but isn't the point that our tax dollars aren't getting the most bang for the buck?

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How do we still only have one way to cross Intracoastal in WBR? And that route was closed to heavy truck traffic for months because of a lack of proper maintenance and upkeep.

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The bridge is at the end of its lifespan and is scheduled to be rebuilt in 2020.

And it was closed for a few weeks.

And proper maintenance requires money. You down for making that bridge a toll to pay for its own maintenance?

So in all seriousness, I ask this of you and of everybody else on here.

ASSUMING somebody could convince you that the money would go where it is supposed to go, and ASSUMING we elected a competent governor and non-corrupt legislature, how would you propose to pay for a billion dollar bridge ($2B by the time you build all the expressways feeding it).

Tolls could help, but you can't use tolls to match federal funds. There has to be an upfront financial commitment from the state.

So how do you do it?

Or are you just okay with never doing it?

You are asking us to make ridiculous assumptions. But if those miracles happened, the economy of the state would flourish so dramatically that revenue from existing taxes would increase enough to solve all of our problems.