by: Raychelle Riley
Updated: Jun 10, 2022 / 05:50 PM CDT
“2024… it’s going to be a mess. But after that, for years and years, we’re going to get the benefits of it.”
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) is using public feedback to tackle the traffic delays expected during the I-10 widening project.
“2024… it’s going to be a mess. But after that, for years and years, we’re going to get the benefits of it,” said DOTD Communication Director Rodney Mallett.Public feedback wanted by DOTD on electric vehicle infrastructure plan
Plans for the I-10 widening project are shifting gears, now getting down to the finer details.
“The first is the constrained right of way, the second is to maintain traffic during the construction period and the constructability of the project itself, and the third is community connections and context-sensitive solutions,” said Franklin Associates Urban Planner James Taylor.
Franklin Associates, one of the leads on the project, has garnered input on mitigating traffic and disruption to the industry from stakeholders.
“Obviously a project of this magnitude… there are lots of challenges and we’ve scrolled that down to three,” he said.
For problem number one, Taylor said the private property they will be using to complete construction will be released back to the owners afterward.
“We want to establish some ground rules and the first is to maintain and stay within that right of way footprint identified during the NEPA process. So that’s to stay within those lines,” said Taylor.
For issue number two, project heads have spoken with state agencies and large employers to consider remote working or a shift in schedule to help avoid certain routes in 2024.DOTD breaks ground on Ascension Parish roundabout project
“COVID has shown us that it is possible for certain types of jobs to perform working remotely or virtually at home. So we’re looking to implement those sorts of solutions,” he said.