A crowded Baton Rouge intersection is about to become one of the first in the
nation to undergo huge changes modeled after a new design used in Mexico.
The site is the intersection of Airline Highway and Siegen Lane/South
Sherwood Forest Boulevard.
The plan is to push back traffic turning left from Airline onto Siegen or South
Sherwood Forest by about 300 feet to trim congestion at the intersection.
State officials hope to begin work in two months and finish the $4.4 million
project by the end of the year, possibly by Thanksgiving.
Backers contend that, once the work is done, traffic improvements will be
dramatic at one of the busiest spots in southeast Baton Rouge.
"Louisiana will be on the cutting edge," said Michael Bruce, principal
engineer for ABMB Engineers and one of the top proponents of the switch.
But several longtime small business owners along the southwest part of the
site are unhappy.
They sit on Airline just south of the intersection, and contend the project
threatens their livelihoods by making it harder for motorists to get to them,
especially for traffic traveling north on Airline.
"It is going to kill us," said Tammy Guilliams, secretary-treasurer for Service
Glass Works. "It is going to kill all these businesses."
To understand the issue, it helps to visualize the problem.
During the peak travel hour in the morning, nearly 5,700 cars travel the
intersection, and it takes an average of nearly three minutes for a vehicle to
get through.
It takes nearly four minutes during the afternoon rush period.
Motorists on Airline now approaching the intersection who want to turn left
are directed to two lanes. Highway experts say that causes huge traffic
backups for cars and trucks in the other two lanes driving through the
intersection. The idea is to move the congestion-causing left-turn traffic away
from the intersection.
Under the plan, those turning left from Airline onto Siegen or South
Sherwood Forest will be stopped at a new light about 300 feet from the
intersection. They will enter a left-turn bay. Travelers at that spot will get a
green light shortly after those ahead of them on Airline stopped at the
intersection take off.
Those motorists will then cross oncoming traffic, which is stopped by a red
light, drive up two new travel lanes that parallel Airline and proceed with
their left turns through the intersection.
Under the changes, "All the traffic that wants to get through now doesn't have
to wait for these left turns," Bruce said. "It is as though these guys (left
turners) do not even exist."
Wait times will drop dramatically, engineering studies show. Motorists will
spend an average of about 30 seconds to get through the intersection during
peak travel times instead of three or four minutes.
The idea is virtually unheard of in the United States. Only two smaller such
designs operate in New York state and Maryland. Bruce said the success of
about 40 similar intersections in Mexico, some of which he has visited, is
why he thinks it will work.
"That is the only reason we have embraced this," he said.
"We do not consider this a test case," Bruce said. "This has been proven. It
just has not been fully proven in the U.S."
Bruce's firm is making about $405,000 for its work on the project, said Mark
Lambert, spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and
Development.
Some nearby business owners are enthusiastic.
"From what it looks like, it will definitely help the flow of traffic," said Craig
Rodrigue, owner of Hunter's Pro Shop, which sits along Airline in the
northwest corner of the intersection.
But the plan is vehemently opposed by Guilliams and owners of several other
businesses that run south along Airline from the southwest corner of the
intersection.
Jim Bickley, president of Cracker Barrel of Louisiana, said one of his
convenience stores will be devastated.
Bickley said at least 50,000 cars and trucks a day on southbound Airline go
by his store, which has been at the site for about 20 years.
"A convenience store survives based on traffic count," he said. "They are just
going to cut me off from that traffic."
State officials said a two-way access road is designed to ease problems for
those businesses. Bruce said that, for northbound traffic, drivers can get to the
Cracker Barrel and other businesses by exiting at the Old Jefferson signal,
which will include a "Frontage Road Business Access" sign. Northbound
traffic can also make a U-turn near the intersection and proceed south on the
access road.
Bickley said he is concerned that southbound traffic on Airline used to
stopping at his store will opt not to pass by, leave Airline and return on the
access road. He said he recently spent $500,000 on the shop and added an
employee training center nearby.
Pleas to a wide range of officials, he said, have fallen on deaf ears.
"I got all kinds of letter replies that just basically said too bad, so sad,"
Bickley said.
Bill Pedneau, owner of Meineke Car Care Center on Airline, said his and
other businesses were all but ignored in planning the intersection changes and
stand to lose access to traffic on northbound Airline.
"They totally ignore the businesses in the southwest quadrant," Pedneau said.
"This was a steamroller from the beginning."
Sen. Jay Dardenne, R-Baton Rouge, whose legislative district includes the
area, said he was initially skeptical of the plan. But Dardenne said that, after
meetings on the issue during the past 18 months, there is general consensus
that the change has merit.
"I was sensitive to the concerns of the businesses and those that are still
upset," he said. "But I think every effort was made to alleviate as many
concerns as possible.
"This is a major point of contention in the whole traffic flow of southeast
Baton Rouge," Dardenne said. "We have got to do something to better the
situation."
Traffic tie-ups are not the only problem at the intersection. It had 615
accidents from 1996-2003, including one death and 287 injuries. The accident
rate is 5.1 times greater than the average at similar junctures.
Matt McKay, president of All Star Automotive Group, which sits on the
northeast corner of the intersection, said state officials believe the change will
help.
"Based on the model that I saw, I am assuming they have done their research
and it will work," McKay said.
Some information for this story was provided by Mark Ballard of The
Advocate's Capitol news bureau.
Source: The Advocate