re: New Bridge will not help BR traffic much

oh i dunno. by then most of the traffic will be flying cars, so the bridge will help out with ground autos

New bridge over the MS river in BR?
Good one, baw.

May you live long enough to see that happen.

Another BR bridge thread!

Bridge in St. Gabriel would work IF they would tie it in at I-10 between Hwy 73 (Prairieville) and Highland. Could run an elevated over Spanish Lake/Swamp and then over the LSU AG fields behind the prisons. On other side they could cross LA1 and lay down a dedicated expressway that joins back to I10 between Lobdell and Gross Tete.

It will certainly help more than no bridge. A lot of people who live in Ascension, Livingston, and EBR work at Dow or Shintech in Plaquemine.

If DOTD is intelligent enough to connect this south bridge to the Grosse Tete exit in the West and to I-12 in LP, it could massively improve traffic in an area that is currently a bottleneck and gives us a southern bypass for BR.

It’s not perfect, but it’s useful. A northern loop connecting Central Throughway to the Old Bridge, either an upgraded LA 42 or another alternative Amite Crossing with a north/south highway through Livingston, and a LA 415 extension to aleviate the intracoastal bottleneck, and you have the foundations of a functioning loop.

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When the BR population exploded after Katrina

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That’s a myth. The population in EBR did not explode post Katrina. Sure immediately after the storm EBR was overloaded with evacuees, but most left.

Population in EBR quit growing in double digit numbers in 1980 according to the census.

FWIW, from 1990-2000 EBR population increased 8.6%
From 2000-2010 EBR population increased 6.6%

There was no population explosion.

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This is ignorant. How much of the current traffic is local and how much is through traffic?

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2022 Illuminator

Good question, and here are some answers. The article is a good one.

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The results from a traffic pattern analysis released Monday for the Greater Baton Rouge Mississippi River Bridge South project surprised some experts and officials. Its findings indicate local drivers account for the vast majority of the 126,000 vehicles who cross the Interstate 10 bridge.

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

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Good chunks of it are interstate ready, but still lack something that prevents it from getting the full designation.

As far as distance, it is shorter throught BTR. Google maps estimates 2 hours and 7 minutes, 135 miles, between Downtown Laffy and Downtown NOLA on I-10, now if you take US-90 that is 2 hours and 32 minutes and 152 miles.

I probably really depends on your starting point in Laffy and ending point in New Orleans.

Mainly the sections that are interstate ready like Raceland to Morgan City are disconnected from the Interstate system. So that is why the FHWA refuses to label US 90 between Raceland and Morgan City as a section of I-49. If the state could connect I-310 with this section, they could call it I-310 or a section of I-49 because now it would be connected to the system. But that section could be a billion dollar road as you have to build new Des Allemands bridge and probably some low level bridges over the swamp in that area to stay above the water.

I remember before the state elevated US 90 between Des Allemands and Raceland when 90 would flood with a stiff south wind or a storm. But there are plans for a levee system to protect that area and a flood gate in Bayou Des Allemands. It was the year South Lafourche played in the Superdome 1997 for a regular season high school football game. We had to leave early because the section that was under water was 10 MPH zone.

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

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Mapped it for you:


The 3 purple line areas slotted for I-49 south are already interstate quality/ interstate level segments-- limited access (only at exits), no intersection signals, etc.

Some areas are near-interstate level--limited access only at major intersections (usually signalized). An interchange (at Ambassador Caffery South) and a rail overpass are being built south of Lafayette to extend that western-most purple line northwesterly.

The biggest, most difficult part part is the I-49 portion through Lafayette which has been argued about forever. Also there is a small segment west of Morgan City around Patterson, and the stretch between Raceland and Boutte, which will get you to I-310. The segment between Boutte and the current end of the West Bank Expressway can come later.

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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.

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No amount of political will is going to create a loop that cuts through Kenilworth, runs over Perkins Rowe, Intersects I10 at Siegen, cuts through Womens Hospital, Runs through Shenandoah, just to tie in to I-12 at Livingston. That isn't even a remotely realistic option.