by: Jacquelyn Kisic
Updated: May 20, 2022 / 12:08 AM CDT
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) invited the public to an open house event.Police respond to crash with injuries at Mohican and Plank
The event was to build connections with the people and to ask for their suggestions for the new Perkins Road Corridor and I-10 expansions.
Some of the ideas for the new project include parking, safety, decorative lighting, street connectivity, and pedestrian pathways.
DOTD Communications Director Rodney Mallet, explains what the multiple posters show ideas on what each feature would look like.
“People like to go to these establishments sometimes after dark, so if we have attractive lighting, not only would that make the area more attractive, it can also be a safety feature,” said Mallet.
By having these features, DOTD officials hope that this draws in more people to the area, and fixes some of the current traffic issues.
“I see benefits in all of the different things, as someone who frequents the area, I think parking and lighting,” said Mallet.
State officials from DOTD said that taking a map-based online survey will help them pinpoint which areas and features are needed the most.
The online map-based survey will be active from Thursday, May 19 through Friday, June 10, 2022.
Local business owner, Misit Broussard, has the Building 5 Market, Kitchen, and Patio business in the Perkins Overpass area.
“It’s very important that though the process is something that’s thought out kind of critically and strategically and I mean that’s parking for our customers, that’s parking for our team, that’s parking for ourselves,” said Broussard.
Broussard and the other business owners say they are rooting for a positive change in the area, but don’t want to wait another four years.
“Within an overall 4-year construction period, construction of temporary westbound lanes will begin in early 2023, and the restriction to 2 lanes – lasting for a year – will commence in early 2024,” DOTD said.