Downtown Baton Rouge Traffic Signals

Client: City of Baton Rouge

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In the late 1990s, downtown Baton Rouge was considered a ghost town by many. When ABMB was hired to build a traffic model for the area, people wondered why the city worried about traffic when there wasn't any. "People said you could shoot a cannon down a street without hitting anyone," recalls Mike Bruce, ABMB's resident traffic specialist. He remembers that "it wasn't that bad, but it was pretty quiet."

The city made it a priority to revitalize the downtown area. However, city planners didn't want congestion to undermine their efforts to make downtown a place where people wanted to go. For the ABMB effort, Mike Bruce sent teams of ABMB engineers to count traffic at 200 intersections, including morning and evening peaks. They contacted every major business and state agency that was planning to relocate in the area to better estimate the number of people in each office and the number of trips from each location. This data and more was incorporated into a comprehensive downtown traffic model. Once ABMB had the model up and running, a few issues surfaced. Perhaps the most obvious was that the signal system, parts of which had been in place since the 1950s, was in dire need of replacing. ABMB recommended their replacement, along with a number of one-way to two-way conversions and traffic diversion from River Road.

Around the time ABMB finished the study, downtown Baton Rouge saw signs of renewed life in which new buildings were built and old ones were rehabbed. In recent months, downtown has seen the addition of the new Main Street Market which created a place for small restaurateurs, shopkeepers, artisans, and farmers to sell their wares. Also, the Irene W. Pennington Planetarium opened in spring 2003 to major crowds. Thanks to ABMB, people in the area can take advantage of these amenities without getting tied up in traffic.

In essence, ABMB gave the city a roadmap for a revitalized downtown. Through its efforts, signals have gradually been replaced, streets rerouted, and the traffic flow managed. As new projects are planned, ABMB adds to the model to determine potential impacts and remedies. With its traffic model, ABMB is well-prepared for any traffic challenge the downtown area hands them.

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