WAFB
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – A new report from a transportation research group shows that Baton Rouge will need a lot of work and extra funding on roads.
Louisiana is actually at one of the lowest levels in the country when it comes to investing in its infrastructure, and some it’s really time for a change.
“It’s either construction, you know poor roads and terrible traffic. I there definitely needs to be something done in Baton Rouge for sure,” says Monica Wright. Wright is like many other drivers, she’s tired of Louisiana roads damaging her car.
She says a few years ago, her tire popped and damaged the tire’s rim while she was driving on Old Jefferson Highway. She blames the loose concrete in the middle of the road. However, that’s only a small piece to the puzzle when it comes to fixing road problem that cost folks money.
According to a study by a transportation research group known as “TRIP,” Baton Rouge needs a lot of work on their roads to turn things around.
“For the state coming out of the pandemic and looking forward to economic development it will be critical that investment is made to make improvements that are going to improve the conditions in system that are going to help improve the mobility,” says Rocky Mortti who is the director of policy and research for TRIP.
The report shows that drivers in Baton Rouge spend on average more than $2,000 to fix their vehicle after driving on Louisiana’s rough roads. 26% of major roads have pavement issues or are in poor condition. 20% of the region’s bridges need immediate repairs or simply just need to be replaced. Then of course, there is traffic, turns out Baton Rouge traffic delays and congestion doesn’t match its current population according to TRIP.
“The cost delays and wasted fuel due to traffic congestion and the economic costs of traffic crashes in which the lack of adequate road ways, safety features were a contributing factor,” adds Mortti.
To make a difference in everyone’s lives, TRIP and other organizations like BRAC are saying Baton Rouge needs more federal and state funding in order to clear up these bottlenecks.
“Our organizations have longed pushed the needs for Louisiana to invest better in its infrastructure, and the data that you’re hearing from TRIP this year just reemphasizes that point so well for us to understand,” says Adam Knapp who is the president & CEO of BRAC.
The legislature is meeting this week to look at their annual priorities as a state, and officials from these organization and many more are hoping infrastructure is at the top of that list.