Unassuming Signs Ahead

As many of my previous posts have described, the LSU Lakes are a sad representation of our community... and there isn't a plan (to my knowledge, including FutureBR) to deal with the issues resolving access and overall quality. The assets of the lake span beyond the Parish boundaries, and the lakes are the first impression most people get entering LSU. Yet the paths barley resemble a reasonable resource to the people who utilize the lakes. This ranges from path conditions, path size, path marking etc.

Instead of dwelling on the overall picture, I wanted to just nachalatly point out the issues that arise when actually approaching one of these mysterious pedestrian/bike/vehicle crossings along the route.

First, lets review state law (which pretty much mimickes the Baton Rouge Code of Ordinances).

RS 32:212
§212. Pedestrians right-of-way in crosswalks
A. When traffic-control signals are not in place or not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall stop and yield the right-of-way, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling or the roadway onto which the vehicle is turning.

RS 32:212
§197. Riding on roadways and bicycle paths
A. Every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable, exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction, except under any of the following circumstances:

RS 32:232
(4) In the event an official traffic-control signal is erected and maintained at a place other than an intersection, the provisions of this Section shall be applicable except as to those provisions which by their nature can have no application. Any stop required shall be made at a sign or marking on the pavement indicating where the stop shall be made, but in the absence of any such sign or marking, the stop shall be made at the signal.

Now, take these into consideration, and study the photo below.

To me, this is the biggest cluster. Ever. What is a person to do.

If one is driving, it's almost impossible to figure out what's going on here. First, this is a regular, signalized intersection. Nothing out of the ordinary... except for all the yield right hand turn lanes. Cars coming from the south, turning east yield to cars coming from the north turning east. In practice, this usually never happens. Southbound turning cars will usually yield to northbound turning cars, completely against any road signage. Making for a huge distraction taking place. Does the northbound turning car proceed, even when the southbound turning car is stopping? Should it wait? Should it break the yield sign and go? It's a predicament, and all their attention is now focused on this "cluster"...

Then notice notice what is within just feet of this cluster yield? A clearly marked crosswalk. Thus cars are to yield (per state law) to pedestrians in the crosswalk. But notice what is signed along the pedestrian walkway - a stop sign. Also per state law, the pedestrian is now suppose to wait for the car and disregard the yield in the crosswalk. Yet, there is no indication to the vehicle that the pedestrian does not have the right-away in this situation. On the contrary, the car is suppose to yield to the left hand turner, and then yield to the pedestrian.

But wait, there is even more a more complex situation taking place. The sign also has a bicycle. No where in state or local law does a biker have right-of-way over a vehicle, especially in a made up "bicycle crosswalk". Yet the sign for the vehicle would make it seem as if this were the case. 

Thus a cluster.

Actually, I would be interested to know the amount of accidents that occur in this area. There are so many conflicting events that so much cautious needs to take place. Thus creating a situation that may be safer at the end of the day. 

This happens all over the place. A favorite portion of the lakes is a very, very small portion when the paths are divided between southbound ped/bike and north bound ped/bike on both sides of the road. 

As you can see, one side of the road has a glorified shoulder, while the other side of the road is a small path. Mind you, this division only happens for a short half mile (maybe). Meaning pedestrian and bikes are suppose to cross in the meaningless "crosswalks", which (as you can see above) has amazing signage and is positioned perfectly... if you want to die. So of course, no one actually abides by the below markings, and they just continue to use the paths as normal.

Portion of the LSU Lake Paths that only allow northbound and southbound pedestrian and bikes on each side of the roadway.

Of course, they divided the pedestrian and bikes because the path widths suck. Bikes and pedestrians are suppose to use this (maybe) five foot walking trial. Which is near already impossible  Don't let this picture fool you... this is the most heavily traveled pedestrian/bike way in the Parish (and an amazing asset to the region). Not only does it provide for a six mile ring, it also provides a connection to LSU from densly populated neighborhoods and the downtown. 

Also notice in the above picture all the conflicting signage and road markings. Two clearly defined pedestrian crosswalks. A flashing caution light. EVERYONE has a stop sign (pedestrians and vehicles). In fact, the pedestrian/bike path has a stop sign for southbound travelers, even though the pavement clearly marks that pedestrian and bikers should not be traveling southbound. Not to mention the fact cars are coming up one of Baton Rouge's only hills, on a turn, in a 40 mph zone. They will only see the pedestrian crosswalk a  few seconds beforehand... but not to worry, the pedestrians are suppose to stop (per state law signage), but the vehicles don't know that because it is clearly marked as a crosswalk (where they suppose to yield to pedestrians and not bikes).

Thus a cluster.

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I like the idea of beginning an urban greenway in Baton Rouge (a good case study on urban trails), but sometimes I wish priorities were higher for other projects.

The LSU Lakes and City Park. This area has the heaviest concentration of ped/bike recreation in the city. The use of this area is almost mind boggling. Yet nothing has been done to help this area. The "trail" is a mix of concrete, pavement, dirt, and road. Sometimes the path is three feet, six feet, or nothing at all. The signage dedicates the path to bikes sometimes, pedestrians sometimes, sometimes both, and sometimes neither. All while the pedestrian crossings are poorly marked, and never utilized correctly by motorist. Making this area incredibly dangerous.

The Mississippi River Levee Trail. This is the most modern and up kept "trail" in Baton Rouge. The trail itself isn't as heavily used as the "Lakes" trail, but it's a huge asset that is now being expanded to the Parish border. Yet it's hidden and has very little linkages throughout the city. (Heck, it only has two downtown).

So first of all, I'm very weary of the "interstate park". Very few successful examples can be found nationwide. Those few examples usually work because of density. There are far more examples of communities just getting rid of the freeway all together. Lafayette has been planning the urban portion of I-49 for years... and one can argue which is better: bypassing a city, or passing through. But at the end of the day, passing though gives a lot of complications. Creating a park underneath just doesn't 'fix' the overall problem.

Second, is the lack of vision the City of Baton Rouge possesses. In this case it isn't a lack of vision. BREC has identified a corridor plan for the trail system, which is Parish-wide. But with no overall funding plan, it is a piecemeal approach. For example, the parks department identifies the Wards Creek trail as a catalyst project. Yet it is short, has very little adjacent residential, and no short term plans to link the trail to the overall system (and hardly a realistic long term plan). Now they are proposing the downtown trail, which will have adjacent access to residential, but no serious linkages to the overall system (City Park and the river). It's not that I don't trust Baton Rouge... but I've seen projects get dropped time and time again (I've only been here five years). Thus we are left with a lot of 'pieces' to a lot of 'systems'. Given this history, the City needs to focus on important aspects. Right now they are just building links for stakeholders. That is fine for the near future... but if the successful links don't get built, people will view the trail plan as a fail. Again.

At the end of the day, the City needs to seriously invest in entire pedestrian and bike infrastructure. Until then I find it hard to get excited about new projects.


UPDATE - 11/9/2011 (5:00 pm)
http://www.1012corridor.com/archives/1012-corridor-weekly/latest/
In other news, the Mississippi River Trail is slowly coming together.

Is LSU a commuter school?

I often accuse Baton Rouge of being a bad college town. My accusation comes down to  my consideration of LSU as a commuter campus, and people often scoff at this idea. My graduate thesis included the demographic study of college towns and their makeup. Specifically, I was looking at the commercial areas around the college campus, but commercial makeup is directly related to the demographics supporting the market. So much of my research pertained to the demographics of a campus area, as much as the commercial area itself. So I consider myself well read on the subject.

*Disclaimer 1: This analysis is purely a personal project and not professional... so I don't have access to any sort of design software. Keep that in mind with the sketches.
*Disclaimer 2: This analysis by no way undermines the integrity of the LSU Football team.

Quick analysis of the campus area showing the surrounding residential and commercial areas, with access to  the city. The school itself is secluded within the transportation network, and has limited connectivity to the rest of the city. (We all know this because we go to football games).

Let’s step back, because my judgment of the LSU campus is purely observational at this point. Here's why. The campus itself is landlocked, with the lakes to the east and the river to the west. That leaves the North and South Gates for housing and commercial development, which is where the typical college town falls apart. The North Gates are the older urban neighborhoods, and should be extremely dense. Surrounding student housing should support a thriving, bohemia commercial district. Campuses across the country (both the same size or smaller) support an amazing array of services from bookstores, coffee shops, bars, artistic establishments, etc.  While the North Gates does indeed have some of these , the number isn’t anything near what would be expected. My alma mater of half the size had a more thriving district. Obviously my first assumption is lack of density. There’s a small neighborhood to the east, and several apartment complexes (er, condos) adjacent as well. But these neighborhoods lack any sort of pedestrian appeal, especially the apartment complexes, which are mostly gated and lack sidewalk access. That’s not saying this area does not support the North Gates, because it obviously does. But the area isn’t conducive to a walkable urban area.

Looking quickly on how the campus area relates to the transportation system, along with the cluster of housing and commercial areas.

A closer look at the North Gate area shows the defined edges of the campus, along with  the relationship between the commercial areas and housing. (Note that I tried to stick with APA's LBCS, but used used orange as high density housing, with yellow as single family).

So it has to boil down to demographics. Below is a map of the city showing 2010 census districts with a median ages below 32. (Again, a rough analysis for my purpose of the 'study').

I first looked at the entire city as it related to median age. The red census tracks have median ages under 26; the blue census tracts have a median age between 26 and 30; and the orange census tracks have a median age between 30 and 32.

Breaking down the Census Tracks north of LSU, the median age only stays at 32 or below in Census Tracks 24 and Census Tracks 25; and looking even more deep, ages are only at 30 below Roosevelt Street. The most peculiar thing about the area, is how student population transitions so quickly. Student housing practically disappears a block or two from the campus gates.Of which, this population is only 2,657.

Census Tracts 24 and 25. The dark green area have median ages 30 and above.

At the South Gates, the border itself is buffered by surface parking lots. So already the campus and the South Gates are physically separated, providing an almost quarter mile walk from the nearest academic building to the gates themselves. However, once outside campus there is an abundance of student housing, yet the area feels suburban in nature: sidewalks are more or less present, but the environment is brutal and all commercial areas are strip shopping centers with ample parking. The area just doesn't 'feel' walkable, thus making it more car oriented.

Looking quickly how the area south of campus interacts with the transportation system, along with commercial centers. 

A closer look at the south gates shows the areas of campus, and how it  separates itself  from the commercial centers and residential area. Take note that I used orange for high density housing, similar to the North Gate.

The odd thing is, this area is heavily populated with median ages of less than 30 well south of LSU. Nicholas Drive seems to be the center point of this lower median age, extending down five miles to Gardere Lane. The student housing quickly transition east of Burbank, and southwest of Brightside Lane/Ben Hur Road. To coincide, this area is full of student oriented businesses. But everything is spread out, and has no uniformity.

A break down of the South Gate area. The dark green has a median age of 30 and above. Everything else is below. One interesting thing to note are university adjacent neighborhoods that are obviously not student housing. Instead these area's probably cater to faculty and employees. A common thing found around all university campuses.

The area itself if fairly dense. Although it's hard to work up the density per square mile with the current census, a map showing each block's density tells a good story. The area with residents of a thirty of less median age is fairly dense. Yet, this area is grid-less with a brutal mile walk to the edge of campus. So even with the great bus system, most students probably own cars (these stats aren't available for the 2010 census yet). In total 17,192 people live in the census blocks that have a median age of 30 or below. 

Looking at pure population numbers.

Then there is on-campus housing. These numbers are much easier to come by given the university tracks these statistics. So last year 5,741 students lived on campus. The two census tracts covering this area include the campus, along with a few neighborhoods. For the most part, the entire area has a median age below 30, with the exception of three blocks. This total (median age below 30) comes to 7,505.

This area is mostly on campus housing. So the median age is well below thirty. Take note the two areas that have higher numbers, which are off campus neighborhoods that are more employee housing. In addition, part of the North Gates are included in these Census Tracts. 

I know this is all extremely rough. But the total number of people living in census blocks with a median age of 30 or less is 41,889. Which is well over the 26,000 lSU enrollement. So it can be easily assumed that a good majority of students live near the North Gates, South Gates, or on campus. The issue with LSU are the students that live south of campus, the car oriented portion of campus. These students are either commuting by car or bus to campus. The number of (presumed) students living in the North Gate area is about one-third of LSU's enrollment. This is a hard number to sustain services needed for a dense, college-oriented neighborhood. However, it's completely possible. Not only is it possible, it's important for LSU to strive for a more urban, walkable campus. Colleges across the country are discovering that this generation of students will select a university for Quality of Life purposes; and students want a walkable campus with choices (not just a good football team). So here are my suggestions for LSU.

• Work with the city to upkeep neighborhoods around campus. It's rediculous that most neighborhoods don't even have sidewalks around a university.
• The University should not expand their campus footprint. They already have a sprawling campus, mainly because of all the surface parking. Instead, they should strive for a fifteen minute walk anywhere on campus. Much larger universities have accomplished this, so LSU should also.
• Build up the North Gates. This area is right across the street from most the academic buildings. It should be thriving. 
• Work the South Gates so it's livable. It will never be an 'urban mecca'. But there has to be some mitigation because the majority of students live in this area. At the least, make the area feel cohesive.
• Finally. The lakes! The most popular pedestrian and bike place in the city... yet the area is horrible at best. Four foot sidewalks? Barley noticeable crosswalks? Common. It's, well, just horrible.

North Gates. Already has a good amount of retail, and location right off campus. Most the area has good streetside appeal, pedestrian safety, and good access. 

North Gates. Streetscapes don't have to be "pretty" to be successful. The activity level and location of the North Gates make the area functional.

North Gates. Buuuuut, the appeal doesn't last very long. While some of the parking lots of started to develop, there's a lot of parking left. Sadly the North Gates reflect LSU's dedication to parking and not people.

Main Campus. The main campus does not lack in design. Bell Tower. Parade Grounds. The Quad. Everything to make it accessible, yet collegiate.

Main Campus. The older academic buildings surround the Parade Grounds, with the remaining in the Quad.

Main Campus. The trees are what makes the campus. Especially the lining along Highland Road.