Baton Rouge "Bypass" (aka Loop)

I'm never an advocate for huge infrastructure projects that will only cut travel time by minor increments. Which is the main reason to oppose the currently proposed "Baton Rouge Loop" that kinda sorta just came out of thin air. The actual path wouldn't helps "traffic problems" in the metro area. Instead it would allow people in the suburbs to avoid Baton Rouge at all costs. Actual "travel time" probably won't be reduced... and the millions invested have yet to show any sort of cost/benefit analysis along with reduced travel times. The only rational is avoiding an occasional accident; while in inconvenient, that's A LOT of money. Especially when it is very rare the interstate actually closes. Is it really worth spending a billion dollars to save thirty minutes every so often?

So lets look at the problem purely from an automobile side (pretending other methods of transportation doesn't exist). Baton Rouge already has amazing infrastructure in place to assist in connectivity, and with some upgrades the City can fix a majority of the problems, while keeping the economic ramifications inside the Parish.

I'm still an advocate of upgrading Airline Highway to limited access (and possibly Florida Boulevard). A combination of access roads and interchanges would fix congestion problems. Obviously this process would be expensive, but it would actually help businesses WITHIN the Parish, and not adjacent Parishes. As for the western portion of the "bypass" the infrastructure is already there. Most the right of way is already in place for a connection of I-10 to the Sunshine Bridge; and there have been plans to upgrade Louisiana Highway 1 to limited access (most of the road is close to standards as is). Done. The interchanges at I-10 and the Huey Long Bridge have already been built.

So the recent articles coming out from Ascension and Livingston describing a new highway that links I-10 with I-12 is somewhat interesting. While I would still support the upgrade of Airline Highway, at least this plan utilizes current infrastructure and connects the Sunshine Bridge to I-12.

It just makes sense. People get up in arms when we spend a few million on a bus system... but there is rarely outcry when we want to build millions/billions of new road infrastructure that is duplicating systems already in place.

The best thing about confusion

On my way back from lunch I had to cross one the many Airline Highway intersections in Ascension Parish. These intersecting roads are only two lane. Meaning people turning right cannot do so on red because they have to wait for people going straight. People going straight have to wait for left hand turners to yield oncoming traffic. Thus a standstill.

I hail from the German-Midwest. I like rules. I was taught that society functions very efficiently when rule following takes place. This is why I hate traffic in Louisiana. No one likes the rules; they don’t follow the rules; and the rules are rarely enforced. This leaves traffic efficiency extremely poor. Well actually non-existent. Merging sucks. Passing lanes sucks. Left turns sucks. Heck, why does Louisiana even have the interstate highways. Rule following is a necessity. High speeds require trust in the other driver. Signalization, consistency, and awareness become a matter of death. Not a matter of rule following.

Honestly, the best traffic situation is the French Quarter. Every intersection functions in its own messed up confusion. Is a car running the stop sign? Are there pedestrians entering the crosswalk? Who has the right of way? Why can’t they replace the street name signs? Has anyone ever considered bending the stop sign back since the hurricane? All the sudden this mass of confusion makes sense. It forces you to pay attention. While you may have the right of way, you can never be too sure that everyone knows. It may take longer to go a mile or two, but everyone feels safer.

So this is also why I love the intersections at Airline Highway in Ascension Parish. If everyone followed the rules, no one would get across. But with strategic maneuvers, we can all transverse the intersection in the short signal duration.

These systems go in the face of my German roots.

But even Europe has begun to recognize why this pattern works. England began removing wayfinding and signage in their central cities, thinking that more confusion for the driver requires attention. A simple concept that no driver wants to face. Yet as a relocatee to Louisiana, I think this concept would function extremely well.  So my idea? Remove all interstate highway, signage, signalization, road lines, etc. I bet our insurance rates drop overnight. (Which, by the way, are coincidently three times higher than my Germany-Midwestern Indiana rates).