Expected timeline for the I-10 widening in Baton Rouge up to 23 years (not satire)

worst case scenario, but after all the design work and public meetings on this for years....a few assholes are trying to pretend they were caught off guard by the whole thing in an effort to block it.

LINK

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As construction gets underway on the state’s widening of Interstate 10 through the heart of Baton Rouge, a group of activists is becoming increasingly concerned about what the yearslong construction project will mean to residents and businesses in the shadow of the highway.

At a meeting of key stakeholders Wednesday at Kalurah Street Grill, architect Coleman Brown and a dozen or so others who live in neighborhoods that will be affected discussed ways to raise awareness of the project and, potentially, even trying to stop it.

Brown, who has designed an alternative plan to the state’s that he says would be quicker, less expensive and far less intrusive, says officials with Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development failed to address residents’ concerns that were raised two years ago during public meetings as part of the environmental review process, and that the state has failed to explain how it will mitigate the negative impacts of construction on small businesses near the Perkins Road Overpass area or on the City Park Lake, which I-10 spans in both directions.

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quote:

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Brown also raised concerns about the length of time the project will take—a whopping 23 years, according to an agreement signed in late 2019 by DOTD, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office.

“First they said it would take five years, then they said 10, now they’re say 23,” Brown says. “I thought that must be a typo.”

Actually, the programmatic agreement, which details the state’s responsibilities to historic structures during the construction process, does state that “LADOTD intends for the Undertaking to be constructed in stages approximately over the next 23 years, as funding becomes available.”

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Looks like the funding allocated for this is being used elsewhere.

quote:

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But DOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson says 23 years is a worst case scenario for the entire widening project—which will span from the foot of the Mississippi River bridge downtown to College Drive and also includes replacing the entire substructure of the elevated portions of I-10—and he says most of the work in areas like the commercial district of the Perkins Road Overpass will be done more quickly than that.

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23 years is even worse than what I expected. And I have extremely low expectations on the state's motivation to put any effort into improving infrastructure in the capital region.