Miss. River Bridge Panel hears how new crossing will impact traffic (it's big)

Highlights:

New MRB crossing south of Baton Rouge would save an astounding 1 million hours per year for Louisiana drivers. That's nearly twice as impactful as what the same study indicated that widening I-10 through the city of Baton Rouge would be - and that project was actually accelerated by the La Legislature and DOTD because of the anticipated impact on traffic.

At least 25,000 local drivers would pay a toll to cross the new bridge at any of the 3 locations being considered- almost all of that would be from drivers choosing the new bridge instead of I-10.

The new bridge would lead to an increase in traffic in Plaquemine, but a decrease in traffic for the LA1/I-10 interchange and the I-10 bridge.

$300 million is allocated towards the project so far and more is coming every year thanks to a change in Louisiana's funding mechanism for this project. The total cost depends on the exact alignment chosen.

Federal and environmental review will take up to 2 years, so construction would start around summer 2024.

The conclusion is predictable to anyone that drives in south Louisiana. This project has a tremendous amount of value to Louisiana drivers, it would make a huge impact on regional traffic, and it must move forward.

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Mississippi River bridge panel hears how new crossing will impact traffic patterns

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The Capital Area Road and Bridge District is meeting today with plans to hear from consultants about how a potential new Mississippi River bridge crossing would change traffic patterns.

Officials have picked three possible sites out of 32 options for the bridge, all in Iberville Parish with connections on the west side of the river south of Plaquemine and on the east side of the river in St. Gabriel.

“I don’t expect there to be much variation between the three options,” says Scott Kirkpatrick, executive director of Capital Region Industry for Sustainable Infrastructure.

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