re: Wasn't there supposed to be an "update" on the Government Street road diet today?

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Getting "stuck" behind a bus may add 5 minutes to your trip.

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It's not a problem now because I can just go around in the other lane. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to pass in a turning lane once it's finished. Have you ever been on Highland behind one of those damn buses?

5 minutes added on to my trip is torture when all I'm trying to do is run down to Albertsons or Calandros for groceries or beer.

eta: Traffic aside, I guess this is the next step in further gentrifying the area.

Best thing about it is the traffic circles.

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Clearly made by someone who ignores reams of traffic engineering studies supporting the idea

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Maybe so. But they also "studied" restriping the bridge. That lasted only a few months.

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The people who think government is a major east-west route are the ones who don't use it. There are literally 5 other east-west roads you can use to get around mid city, and 9/10 times the fastest route involves these roads instead of dealing with the lights and traffic on government.

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Agreed. There are plenty of ways to drive through that area. It's not like people going home to Denham Springs that have the interstate and Florida blvd only. This is major progress for BTR to move towards a more modernized city.

They have about a mile of the right lane eastbound closed for the construction in the vehicle volume flows just fine.

Here is the traffic study

Govt Street Traffic Study

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The following is a simplified summary of which movements along Government will get worse and
which will get better based on the results of the capacity analysis. Movements are highlighted
which had a vehicle delay increase or decrease greater than 10 seconds which represented
more than 25% of the existing delay.
• Government Street at I-110 NB Ramp
o Vehicle delay increases 10 seconds on Government Street in the westbound
direction during both the AM and PM Peak Hours.
• Government Street at Park Boulevard / S. 19th Street
o Vehicle delay increases 15 seconds on Government Street in the eastbound
direction during the PM Peak Hour.
• Government Street at S. Acadian Thruway
o Vehicle delay increases 10 seconds on Government Street in the eastbound
direction during the AM and PM Peak Hours.
• Government Street at S. Foster Drive
o Vehicle delay is reduced 15 seconds on Government Street in the eastbound
direction during both the AM and PM Peak Hours.
o Vehicle delay is reduced 15 seconds on Government Street in the westbound
direction during the AM Peak Hour.
• Government Street at Community College Drive
o Vehicle delay increases 15 seconds on Government Street in the eastbound
direction during the AM Peak Hour. The eastbound through movement operates
better than in the existing scenario, but the left turn movement experiences
greater delays, which results in a slightly higher delay for the overall eastbound
approach. The amount of green time available for the eastbound left turn
movement is limited by the westbound through volume. The green time for the
westbound through movement increases during the AM peak because of the
reduction to one lane, leaving less time and fewer gaps for the left turning
vehicles.
o Vehicle delay is reduced 55 seconds on Government Street in the eastbound
direction during the PM Peak Hour.
o Vehicle delay increases on Government Street in the westbound direction by
55 seconds during the AM Peak Hour and 35 seconds during the PM Peak Hour.
• Government Street at Jefferson Highway
o Vehicle delay is reduced on Government Street in the eastbound direction by 10
seconds during the AM Peak Hour and by 30 seconds during the PM Peak Hour.
o Vehicle delay increases 10 seconds on Government Street in the westbound
direction during the PM Peak Hour.

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And another section - bold is my highlight, not theirs.

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The intersection capacity analyses results in Table 19 indicate the proposed road diet performs nearly as well as the existing condition. Six approaches along Government street experience increases in vehicle delay of 25% and six approaches experience reductions in vehicle delay of 25%. These results show that traffic operations along Government Street will get slightly better in some areas and slightly worse in others. This road diet performs at LOS D or better at each intersection, satisfying standard roadway design criteria. The regional planning model predicts that 100 vehicles will relocate to North Boulevard during the PM Peak Hour. Based on the operational analysis, the proposed road diet maintains sufficient capacity along Government Street such that no additional diversion of traffic is necessary anticipated.

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Interpreting my past note (and knowing a bit about models in general, including traffic models).

The firm doing the study knew that the outcome of the study couldn't be "traffic will perform worse", so it worked every variable it could (within reason) to produce the end result it did, which was "about the same".

Notice traffic is about the same, after 100 people divert to North St during the peak PM rush hour? This was just the number that they had to get off of Government to reach the solution that traffic would stay about the same.

Also note, I-110 South doesn't have an exit at North, and downtown traffic funnels people to Government St. or Florida Blvd with no clean way to get to North (Congested and pedestrian heavy between 4th St and the river).

I still think this is an overall positive for BR, but people critical of claims that vehicle traffic will somehow improve are rightfully skeptical - especially if you use Government as a through street and don't live in mid-city.

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people critical of claims that vehicle traffic will somehow improve are rightfully skeptical - especially if you use Government as a through street and don't live in mid-city.

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The point is get those people to quit using Government as a through street. So their anxiety is correct

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We could barricade Government St. at I-110 and at Jefferson Highway such that only Mid City residents could use it. That would be a huge improvement.

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We've discussed this a bunch, but Government Street during peak times is mess. Not because of volume, but because of the way the current road is laid out along with the multitude of available turns.

A big issue is the way the street grid was laid out when the road was constructed, with the side streets being off center from each other. This was seen as a way to reduce "cut through" traffic north/south through the neighborhoods. What that has done is created the inside lane in both directions being a turning lane. Cars are constantly weaving in and out, getting stuck behind left turns, then slow right turns, etc.

It's essentially a one-lane street in each direction already with a turning lane. The resurfacing, limiting of left turns, and avoiding the swerving around will make the road safer and have similar, if not better, flow.

There's a weekly accident at Glenmore and also Cloud Dr. because of the current situation.

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Are they doing it?

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Based on the location, it could even be done within the current footprint since a left turn is already restricted at Bienville.