[jlmiller]

I did not choose to live next to a major highway nor a loop; that is why I moved to central 22 years ago. I don't think we should mess with our city to alleviate traffic for those who choose to live near an interstate that happens to be very busy (who would have though).

If a north loop must be, then put it on the north side of central or between baton rouge and central, not through the city.

[Sunny]

You had 22 years before progress caught up, i think that is a pretty good run.

[BR Today]

I did not choose to live next to a major highway nor a loop; that is why I moved to central 22 years ago. I don't think we should mess with our city to alleviate traffic for those who choose to live near an interstate that happens to be very busy (who would have though).

If a north loop must be, then put it on the north side of central or between baton rouge and central, not through the city.

Were you for or against Central being given a charter to make it a city of its own? If you were for it, why would you not want the loop to pass through it which would probably put Central on the map in a couple of years. Central isn't really that far out of the city if you think about it. If you wanted to live in the sticks, you should have gone farther north. Hopefully it will work out for you one way or the other.

Thanks for participating on the site. We appreciate it

[mudbug]

Once again, the NIMBY (Not In My BackYard) crowd has reared their ugly head. It's so nice to see that people want to reduce congestion in the area, just don't put it near me and mine. It's like Prairieville saying in the 1980's: Move Airline Hwy away from me, I like living in the sticks...

Raise your protest NIMBY, so once again the loop won't be built and we can all bitch and whine about progress never getting done here...

[Athena]

"He Who Has The Most Money Wins."

IF the BR Loop ever comes to fruition (I won't be living here), its placement will probably depend on whose side has more resources necessary to win the fight...

[vikingsfan68]

Has anyone really considered why the "progress" crowd is trumpeting a loop instead of expanding I-12 and Hwy. 190? Clearly, expansion of those two roadways, with other roadway expansions, would solve the vast majority of traffic problems, which are primarily commuter traffic problems. The real reason is twofold: first, state government is so corrupt that money never seems to wind up in road construction when it needs to be there, and second, the loop is a private financing alternative that will not improve commuter traffic but will make a few wealthy developers even wealthier. Anyone who points out these facts is a "NIMBY," or is against "progress," whatever that means. I intend to stand with anyone who does not wish to be forced off of his land by corrupt government agents like Kip Holden and those who support his plans for making our lives better by concreting over our woods and putting a Wal-Mart on every corner.

[BR Today]

Has anyone really considered why the "progress" crowd is trumpeting a loop instead of expanding I-12 and Hwy. 190? Clearly, expansion of those two roadways, with other roadway expansions, would solve the vast majority of traffic problems, which are primarily commuter traffic problems. The real reason is twofold: first, state government is so corrupt that money never seems to wind up in road construction when it needs to be there, and second, the loop is a private financing alternative that will not improve commuter traffic but will make a few wealthy developers even wealthier. Anyone who points out these facts is a "NIMBY," or is against "progress," whatever that means. I intend to stand with anyone who does not wish to be forced off of his land by corrupt government agents like Kip Holden and those who support his plans for making our lives better by concreting over our woods and putting a Wal-Mart on every corner.

What kind of expansion of I-12 do you think will solve the problem? I don't see how doing anything to I-12 or Hwy 190 would ever be able to get a grasp on the traffic problems we have in this area.

[mudbug]

Widening our interstate through town only points out the bottleneck choke point-- The Mississippi River. Adding a loop around the city would hopefully add 2 new river crossings (With the new John James Audubon bridge coming soon, there are 8 Miss. River crossings in the state). You can't widen any of the roads crossing the river now, and from the numbers that I have seen over the last few years, the traffic flowing from WBR is growing at 5+% a year. The loop will help the traffic there.
Widening the current interstate and state roads will only make more people drive on the roads and the small towns on those areas will bitch about how we ruined them by widening 190. Besides, the target traveler for the loop are the trucks trying to get around town, not stopping and adding to the congestion on the current routes. And they add to the tax base by paying the tolls. I would pay $5 to get to north BR on a loop if it took 20 minutes instead of an hour.
The ramifications of a loop would be to ease some of the surface road traffic and some of the heavy truck traffic on the interstate. Its a good thing and although it may cause some urban sprawl, it still is better than doing nothing.

[Athena]

It would be remiss if we failed to point out the fact that the interstate is not for local traffic. It was designed by Eisenhower to get from army base to army base quickly and efficiently between states [hence inter-, not intra-, state] during wartime. We're supposed to be using the surface roads. I think our use of the interstate for local travel has compounded the deterioration of our roads.

I understand that the traffic light timing in BR was designed by a moron, and that it's just easier to hop on the interstate to get from Sherwood Forest to Airline than to try and battle Sherwood and Florida's or Old Hammond's nightmares. I do it, too.

I think the overall problem here is the laissez faire attitude regarding problems within our state. The surface streets went to hell, so people turn to the interstate. That goes to hell, and now instead of being PROactive, the state becomes REactive. The loop is a REaction to the outcry. They've had this Loop plan for years; if they'd implemented it years ago, they could have prevented the 35-mile parking lot.

An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

[vikingsfan68]

Widening I-12 by going to six lanes from Livingston to Baton Rouge, and widening Hwy. 190 to four/six lanes over the same stretch would obviously carry at least twice the commuter traffic load into and out of Baton Rouge every day. Our primary traffic problem occurs westbound in the mornings and eastbound in the evenings. This traffic comes from the Denham Springs and Walker areas. No one from these areas is going to use a loop north to Baker or south to Donaldsonville to go downtown and back. And no one has a legitimate gripe if an existing roadway truly needs to be widened. Hwy. 190, for instance, is a U. S. highway, and it is two lanes from Denham Springs to Covington. Does that make any sense?