Month: October 2016

Building The Better Mousetrap: ECI, Signature Bridges, And The Surface Cover That Could Change The Game

The most fundamental question involving construction of the I-49 Lafayette Connector from the beginning has been this: Can a major six-lane freeway be built through the heart of Lafayette that can be integrated with the historic neighborhoods and downtown without wiping them off the map?

Many living in those neighborhoods, along with many advocates for New Urbanism, have said, “Oh HELL TO THE NO!!”, citing the history of badly planned and executed freeways being driven through inner cities without any due planning or respect for those being razed. They have been and still are the biggest advocates for swinging I-49 around the city via a bypass, while protecting the inner neighborhoods through “road diets” and reemphasis on non-auto based transportation options.

Thankfully, that attitude is being seriously challenged by a new breed of urban planning that could change the way that urban freeways are built in these areas. And, they just might have more than a snowball’s chance in Hell of executing their designs here in Lafayette.

The Evangeline Corridor Initiative (ECI) is an outgrowth of the Evangeline Thruway Redevelopment Team (ETRT), an organization founded by the Lafayette City/Parish Consolidated Government (LCG) as a go-between for redevelopment of the neighborhoods affected by the Connector freeway. The ETRT was formed under the guise of a joint agreement between LCG and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD or DOTD) to enact preliminary corridor preservation and property acquisition for the Connector project. It’s main focus, however, is to attempt to successfully integrate the Connector project with the surrounding neighborhoods and downtown in a seamless and constructive fashion that promotes both Smart Growth principles and appropriate development.

In 2014, the ETRT applied for and was awarded a $500,000 grant from the US Department of Transportation through its Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant program for implementing and integrating the Connector freeway project with the community of Lafayette that would be most impacted by its construction. Their now ongoing study has the goal of not only meshing the freeway with its surroundings, but also provide more direct connectivity between the neighborhoods affected through more diverse options for transport (such as bicycles and walking); as well as improve opportunities for more suitable and better scaled economic development.

To facilitate the implementation of the project, three Areas of Influence were established for the Connector freeway:

— Area  Level I consisted of the actual right-of-way taken for the freeway facility;

— Area Level II consisted of a 500 foot buffer zone on either side of the ROW, which would serve as a transition zone between the freeway and its surrounding neighborhoods; and

— Area Level III consisted of the boundaries of the neighborhoods immediately impacted by the project.

ETRT’s and ECI’s main purpose would be to develop Area Levels II and III, and interact with DOTD and FHWA on refining Area Level I to meet their goals.

When the ECI originally announced its initial study, the assumption was that the design for the Connector would strictly follow the Selected Alternative that was approved in the 2003 Record of Decision. That alternative consisted of a mostly elevated freeway utilizing most of the Evangeline Thruway corridor, save for a segment near downtown where it would follow a gradual curve just east of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe/Union Pacific (BNSF/UP) main railroad line. Two standalone interchanges along that section with a realigned Second Street/Third Street couplet and Johnston Street would provide direct access to downtown and the neighborhoods surrounding that area; grade separated underpasses of the railroad line would prevent conflicts. Other than a brief section between Jefferson Street and Johnston Street where the mainline freeway would be elevated on embankment to account for the ramps to the two close interchanges, the mainline would be elevated for most of its entirity. Higher than usual vertical clearances (22 feet rather than the typical 16.5 feet) would be used in the segment between the Louisiana and Delta Railroad (L&DRR) spur line and Simcoe Street as part of mitigation for the visual impact to the Sterling Grove Historic District neighborhood. Also, the existing Evangeline Thruway couplet would be retained as part of a frontage road system feeding the Connector freeway and providing secondary access along with the interchanges.

Aerial profile of I-49 Lafayette Connector Selected Alternative, based on
2003 Record of Decision and 2007 Conceptual Study

However, when the Conceptual Study was revived in October of 2015, those assumptions quickly were rendered useless. There was the historical strong opposition from those who opposed building the freeway through Lafayette from the very beginning, preferring a bypass alignment to the east such as the Teche Ridge Bypass or the Lafayette Regional eXpressway (LRX) alternative to the west.

However, a different form of opposition soon emerged from downtown interests who did favor the central alignment, but begged to seriously differ on some of its details. The Lafayette Downtown Development Authority (LDDA) was particularly not so keen to some elements of the Selected Alternative; and their objections were reinforced through both the public involvement process of the main Conceptual Design Study and the initial meetings of the Evangeline Corridor Initiative through their innovative “charrette” meetings. The main objections were:

1) The two standalone interchanges with the Connector at Johnston Street and Second/Third Streets took way too much right-of-way that could be used for development, and were unnecessarily divisive for connectivity.

2) The embanked segment of the mainline between Johnston Street and the Jefferson Street underpass was too divisive, and severed an important collector (Sixth Street/Lee Avenue).

3) The Second/Third Street couplet interchange/railroad underpass potentially forced too much traffic onto Congress Street (which the couplet directly fed into), which contradicted plans for remodeling the latter as a “Complete Streets” prototype for pedestrian/bicycle access and slowing vehicle speeds. It also potentially impacted the Coburn Building, an old retail shop that had recently been approved into the National Register of Historic Buildings.

In reaction to those objections, LADOTD was induced to add a six-month period where modifications to the Selected Alternative could be proposed to address these needs. While the alignment remained the same as to not disturb the concept approved by the 2003 ROD, tweaks to the system of access were proposed, ultimately resulting in 19 design “refinement” modifications by May of 2016.

The ECI study was conceived to run parallel with and advise the DOTD study, and to provide some form of feedback for addressing the Joint Use and greenspace requirements for the freeway. Originally, the idea was that ECI would serve only to perform the development of design for Levels II and III…but as the ideas kept rolling in, it was becoming apparent that they should intervene with DOTD to offer up their own alternative designs more suitable to their goals. In the end they settled on two main concepts, both based on concepts developed by DOTD, but with their own alterations.

Elevated Mainline with Signature Bridge

Overview of Elevated Mainline with Signature Bridge
concept from Evangeline Corridor Initiative
(from ECI Draft Charette Report)
DOTD Concept 4D (Evangeline Parkway), the genesis of ECI’s
Elevated Mainline with Signature Bridge design




Generally based on the Series 4 concept from DOTD, this alternative design entailed a continuous elevated structure along the length of I-49 from the Chalmette Drive crossover all the way to the Vermilion River crossing (or even the University Avenue/Surrey Street crossing). The effect would be more of a large scale land bridge crossing Lafayette, with the peak of the crossing designed as a “signature bridge” landmark that would define downtown Lafayette. Instead of direct interchanges downtown, access would be provided through direct connection “slip ramps” to a redefined Evangeline Thruway frontage system, with the slip ramps placed between the L&DRR and Mudd Avenue for north access, and between Pinhook Road and the Vermilion River crossing for south access. The Evangeline Thruway southbound roadway would be reformed as a six-lane urban boulevard for local business development; the northbound Thruway roadway would be downgraded to a two-way local street and returned to the local grid for the McComb-Veazey neighborhood. Accessibility and connectivity would be improved and restored underneath the “signature bridge” by adding additional cross streets over the BNSF/UP railroad, and restoring some one-way streets to two-way for refining the downtown grid. The space immediately under the bridge structure would be developed for public parking and green park space.


Semi-Depressed Mainline with Cover (Surface Tunnel)



This concept was actually not included in the 19 design modifications put out by DOTD, but is a modification by ECI of one that was included. Part of the Series 6 concepts, this was originally developed thanks to input from an unnamed constituent who noted that an original concept of a depressed Connector freeway was vetted and rejected in the early studies. That concept would have depressed the mainline freeway 20 feet below ground level within the median of the the entirity of the Evangeline Thruway. While it was ruled to be marginally feasible, it was rejected out of practicality and the need for I-49 as a hurricane evacuation route. The constituent suggested that maybe a partially depressed freeway would work better; and studies did confirm initially that a 10 foot drop would better allow for gravity drainage.

The Series 6 concept designs are based on dropping the elevated segments from just south of the L&DRR spur overpass to Pinhook Road down 10 feet below ground level, and adding 10 feet of vertical clearance, for a total of 20 feet. Crossing streets would then be allowed to pass over the freeway for connectivity. The first concept (6A) called for an open trench; subsequent concepts added the cover for a partially submerged tunnel effect.

The ECI Covered Semi-Depressed Mainline alternative is an adjustment to LADOTD’s Concept 6E, which originally called for flattening the curve of the mainline freeway and also shifting the alignment of the BNSF/UP rail line 150 feet east of its current ROW and dropping it to the same level as the freeway. All ECI did was to return the rail line back to its current trajectory, but keep the shift of the freeway centerline so that the resulting berming over the freeway tunnel could return to existing grade prior to the rail line. This allowed all the crossing streets to retain at-grade crossings of the railroad, removing the need for overpasses.

The other striking feature of the Semi-Depressed/Covered Mainline alternative is that the Evangeline Thruway is essentially replaced altogether with an avenue/boulevard hybrid built directly on top of the tunneled mainline segment, and accessible through the same “slip ramp” connection system as the Elevated Mainline uses. The original Thruway roadways would be downgraded to local streets within the neighborhood grid. (There is an option that utilizes both the avenue on top and the boulevard on the side.)

Initially, DOTD balked at including ECI’s alterations to their Series 6 options in their initial analysis, citing both the protocol of DOTD handling Area Level I and that the time for entering concept modifications had passed. Under strong pressure from LCG officials insisting that the alterations be added (as a new concept “6F”), DOTD partially relented and allowed for consideration of the ECI alterations to 6E, provided that that series passed the initial Tier I analysis…which it did by August 2016. All of the modifications under Series 4 and 6 are now currently under a more involved Tier II analysis by DOTD, which will result in the culling down to three finalist alternatives by the end of October, and a final selected and approved alternative by the end of December.

Reinventing Lafayette Gateway North…The Arc d’Willow???

Another goal of the ECI study was to find new ways of exploiting the Connector freeway to redevelop neighborhoods that had been struggling to rise economically. The Lafayette North Gateway District is one distinct example. Once a center of activity through Northgate Mall, Albertsons’, and Walmart, North Lafayette along the Evangeline Thruway has suffered greatly economically, and it is accelerated by the lack of through access due to the nature of the at-grade Thruway.

The original concept for the Selected Alternative in this area was to integrate the Evangeline Thruway into the frontage road system as traditional one-way frontage roads, with a slip-ramp diamond interchange at Willow Street and underpass connections at Martin Luther King Drive/Castille Avenue and at Donlon Avenue/Walmart Drive. The Gateway Visitors Center within the median of the Thruway would be removed and relocated to make room for the Willow Street overpass/interchange.

Needless to say, the ECI folks took one look at those plans and announced: “Ummmm…nope. We can do much better than this.” And this was the result:

The second most distinct feature of this refinement is the radical transformation of the Willow Street interchange. No more slip ramp diamond; now it’s a huge circle interchange with the ramps from I-49 connecting directly to the circle rather than the frontage roads. The MLK/Castille and Donlon/Walmart intersections are now smaller circle/roundabouts, too, and all connected with two-way local streets fronting houses and mixed-used development. Both the Northgate Mall and Walmart properties are also transformed into mixed-use/smaller business development as well.

I did say second most distinct, right? For #1, you got to look what’s inside the Willow Street Circle. Behold, behold…the Arc d’ Lafayette!!

Yes, that would be a 60 foot imitation of Paris’ Arc d’Triomphe straddling the Connector overpass of Willow Circle, complete with a new home for the Visitors’ Center and an observation deck on top. This is what you call “thinking outside the box”.

All of this may seem quite expensive and beyond the reach of funding for the Connector freeway, but considering the alternative of not completing I-49 South or having it diverted around Cypress Swamp and St. Martinville and Breaux Bridge for no benefit, I’d say that this deserves more than just a look.

The I-49 Lafayette Connector and Lafayette Regional Airport: Myths And Reality

One of the many impacts that the I-49 Lafayette Connector freeway project would impose on the city of Lafayette would be a displacement of Runway 11-29 at Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT). This is due to the proximity of converting the existing intersection between the current Evangeline Thruway and East University Avenue/Surrey Street into a grade separated overpass/interchange. The resulting overpass crossing University/Surrey would penetrate into the direct flight path of aircraft entering and departing Runway 11, violating slightly the Runway Protection Zone glide path. The overpass would add about 15 feet of additional height that would need to be cleared along the glide path of Runway 11-29.

In order to raise the glide path to safely avoid the overpass, the proposal is to extend Runway 11-29 by 350 feet at its eastern end, shifting the western end of its approach by that length. This would conceivably provide enough of a graduated slope to clear the overpass and the required 17 foot safe zone above the highest height of clearance. The existing eastern end would not be removed, just remain as sort of a dead zone.

The runway extension would require the acquisition of some wetlands at the eastern end in order to raise the grade level, but the amount of wetland acquisition would be less than 5 acres, and would be within the existing property controlled by the airport.

Aerial view of Lafayette Regional Airport with
proposed displacement of Runway 11-29 to conform with
proposed I-49 Lafayette Connector freeway
(via Lafayette Connector website)

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), who are the lead agencies for the Connector freeway project, have had constant and consistent discussion and interaction with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concerning the potential impacts of the runway extension. FAA gave their initial approval to the current alignment and LFT adjustments as stated in the FHWA Record of Decision (ROD) in 2003 (downloadable here), and then authorized and approved their own standalone ROD for the airport modifications in 2008. (The full FAA ROD is downloadable here (pdf document).)

Due to recent changes in FAA regulations for wetland mitigation and construction standards, the current I-49 Lafayette Connector Conceptual Design Study and Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) process does include a reconsideration of modifications to the University/Surrey interchange to mitigate or avoid the need for the runway displacement. It is more than likely, however, that the displacement will be retained due to conditions that restrict modifications to the University/Surrey overpass.

Nevertheless, such developments haven’t stopped opponents of the Connector freeway, who would much rather it be diverted to a bypass around the city, from decrying the possible impacts of the displacement.

One such devout critic is Michael Waldon, whom has dedicated an entire blog (Connector Comments) to documenting his opposition to what he calls “the Con”; and his belief that this freeway project would be the worst thing to happen to Lafayette. I respect his right to oppose this project, but when his arguments are reduced to disassembled claims and distortions of facts, there is a need to correct the record.

And in the case of Lafayette Regional Airport, Mr. Waldon is, as we say, way, way off.

The main thesis of Waldon’s blog post challenging the Connector freeway and the LFT Runway 11-29 displacement falls upon the theory that the 350′ displacement understates by a factor of three the need for a much longer and more destructive runway extension. Essentially, he rips upon the proponents of the Connector for building their project with no concern for “building tall structures next to your airport”. Here’s how Waldon summarizes his beef with Connector proponents:

SUMMARY: The I-49 Connector FEIS identified unacceptable risk due to failure to meet FAA flight path obstruction guidance, resulting from the proposed interchange construction adjacent to the Lafayette Regional Airport. Without documenting calculations or rationale, the FEIS stated that in order to meet these minimum safety requirements, airport runway 11-29 would need to be displaced 350 feet southeast toward Bayou Tortue and the Cypress Island Swamp.

My calculations, based on FAA guidance, arrive at runway displacement considerably longer than that presented in the FEIS. Here, following FAA guidance, I calculated that the required displacement is 860 feet. This significant difference brings into question the economic, environmental, and engineering feasibility of the displacement. Impact of this displacement on flooding, wildlife, and wetlands should be carefully addressed and documented by DOTD.

The public attitude toward airport safety should always be conservative and circumspect. The Airport’s 1975 Master Plan concludes “Conditions at the airport’s periphery make expansion of its land area difficult or expensive or both.” Even beyond the impacts of runway displacement discussed above, it is simply inappropriate to choose to construct any tall structures on the periphery of our airport which is already severely constrained at its location. Tall structures like the University and Kaliste Saloom interchanges constrain future airport runway alignment adjustments, and impact the ability to meet current requirements and future safety requirements should FAA guidance on safety margins or approach slopes change for any reason.

Let’s analyze Waldon’s objections more closely, shall we?

The interchange closest to the glide path of Runway 11-29, as noted, is the University Avenue/Surrey Street interchange. Under the proposed Connector profile, I-49 would cross over University/Surrey at a maximum height of 16 feet, sloping downward to grade level right near where the flight path of Runway 11 crosses the US 90/Evangeline Thruway/Future I-49 right-of-way. The 11-29 glide path parallels and is 200 feet to the south of the Surrey/University centerline. With the adjusted RPZ glide path, the “end” of Runway 11 would be adjusted 350 feet further down from the current endpoint. This picture (from Waldon’s blog) summarizes the adjustment with respect to the current Thruway and Surrey/University.

Overview of Lafayette Regional Airport Runway 11-29,
with adjusted endpoint for displacement (yellow line) and
half of the Approach Surface. (via Connector Comments blog)

Seems foredooming, right? Except, this overview completely ignores the vertical profile. Here is the profile that Waldon uses for his post, taken from the 2002 I-49 Connector Final EIS (downloadable from LADOTD’s Lafayette Connector website here(Vol. 1) and here (Vol. 2)), which he uses for his argument of fear of planes crashing into the University/Surrey overpass.

Vertical profile of I-49 Lafayette Connector alignment
at University/Surrey interchange near LFT (from 2002
Final EIS, via Connector Comments blog)

You can see that the Runway Protection Zone minimum is set at 17 feet above the highest object height; which would put it generally at approximately 30 feet above the ground level of the runway at the point where the 11-29 glide path intersects with the Connector overpass. The RPZ is also sloped slightly to adjust to the slope of the grade of the overpass, thusly extending the RPZ height to cover the overpass as well.

However, that might even overstate slightly the impact to LFT. Here’s a much more recent profile of that section of the Connector freeway, based on the approved Selected Alternative, that was developed in 2007 during the initial Corridor Conceptual Study.

Profile of I-49 Lafayette Connector @ University/Surrey
interchange (from 2007 Conceptual Study, via
Lafayette Connector website)

As you can plainly see, the University/Surrey overpass is now a bit less steeply graded, and the University/Surrey centerline profile is depressed a bit; this must have been to reduce the height of the overpass as to relieve the penetration of the glide path. But, the height in general remains the same: roughly 30′ counting both the height of the overpass and the maximum clearance of 16 feet for vertical clearance for vehicles using the freeway mainline.

It is here where Waldon goes off the cliff. First, he sets up the measurements for FAA and FHWA standards, which is accurate enough.

Finally, it is necessary to estimate the height of objects above the roadway. This could include signs, streetlights, and aircraft warning lights. The FEIS does mention this, and suggests that special signage and lighting may be necessary. Thus, I will assume that the height of the vehicles on the roadway will be the tallest objects above the roadway. There is no Federal vehicle height requirement for commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). Most eastern states, including Louisiana, set a CMV height limit of 13.5 feet on most highways. Louisiana does allow heights of 14 feet on designated highways, and oversize permits can be routinely issued for heights up to 16 feet 5 inches. Without specific guidance from the Louisiana DOTD, it is unclear what height should be assumed. Here, I will simply assume a maximum height of 15 feet for all vehicles and objects on the roadway.

It should be noted that while Louisiana doesn’t have specific height requirements for vehicles using its roadways, Federal Interstate standards do require minimum height restrictions of 16.5 feet for overpasses of freeways, and 20 feet of clearance for covered/tunneled sections. Since the Connector will be an Interstate built as part of the I-49 South extension to New Orleans, I can assume that it will be built to those standards.

Assuming the peak height at the interchange structure controls the required runway displacement, the calculation of length for the approach surface is now straightforward.  The interchange height plus object height has an elevation of 60 feet (45+15). Adding the FAA 17 foot margin of safety gives a total elevation of 77 feet. Subtracting the runway height which defines the primary surface elevation then gives a height of 40 feet (77-37). At a slope of 34:1, the length of the approach surface to the primary surface is 1,360 feet (34×40). At this point along the approach surface, the approach surface width is 1408 feet (1000 + 0.3×1,360), or 704 feet on each side of the extended runway center-line (Figure 3). Adding the 200 foot width of the primary surface at the end of the runway gives a total distance form the peak of the interchange of 1,560 feet. The present distance is estimated to be 700 feet, so the total runway displacement required would be 860 feet (Figure 4). This is 510 feet longer than the value asserted in the FEIS. This difference significantly brings into question the economic, environmental, and engineering feasibility of the displacement.

The highlighted portion of Waldon’s quote gives his game away. 60 feet??? Really? But, I thought that the height of the University/Surrey overpass was only 12 to 15 feet; how did Waldon get to 40 feet? Simply, he gets his interchanges mixed up. The adjacent Kaliste Saloom Road interchange with the Connector freeway and the frontage roads does indeed include a 40 foot high ramp that is needed to clear the freeway mainline, the adjacent BNSF/UP railroad line, and another high ramp. There is one slight little problem, though; the Kaliste Saloom interchange is nearly 3,000 feet away from the RPZ glide path of Runway 11-29; and the offending ramp drops down to grade level to split to connect with both the northbound Connector mainline and the northbound frontage road long before it gets to the Runway 11-29 flight path. Here’s an overview, straight from the 2007 Conceptual Study:

Aerial profile of I-49 Lafayette Connector @
Kaliste Saloom Road & University/Surrey
interchanges & LFT (from 2007 Conceptual
Survey, via Lafayette Connector website)

As plainly seen from this profile, the Kaliste Saloom ramps are so far away from the Runway 11-29 glide path that it would take some very, very, very bad aircraft control for any plane to even threaten to hit even the highest overpass.

But, it doesn’t stop Michael Waldon from using the Kaliste Saloom ramps for his equation which concludes that a much steeper gradient for 11-29 would require a much longer runway displacement (860 feet, compared to the 350′ proposed in the ROD). This would require a much longer extension of 11-29 that would not only consume far more wetlands, but potentially threaten Bayou Tortue, a tributary that sets the boundary between the airport property and the surrounding wetlands. This is the proof that, in Waldon’s eyes, disqualifies the Connector as a valid alignment, and justifies his belief that a bypass would be much better for Lafayette.

If we adjusted Waldon’s measurements to reflect the reality of the University/Surrey overpass rather than his fantasy of placing the Kaliste Saloom ramps in front of the airport, they would be as follows:

Interchange height (16 feet) + maximum surface height (16 feet) = 32 feet (compared to 55 feet)

Add FAA 17 feet clearance zone = 49 feet (compared to 77 feet)

Subtract 37 feet for primary surface elevation height: 49 – 37 = 12 feet (compared to 77 -37 = 40 feet)

Length of approach surface to primary surface, using 34:1 slope: 12 * 34 = 408 feet (compared to 1,360 feet)

Add 200 feet overrun = 608 feet (compared to 1,560 feet)

Account for current 700 foot length of Runway 11-29: 92 feet of existing leeway (compared to shortage of 860 feet)

In other words, the existing Runway 11-29 is actually marginally suitable for adjusting to the glide path changes from the University/Surrey overpass, but it would be a rather tight fit. The 350 foot runway extension/displacement would certainly add the necessary margin of safety, and would be the maximum allowed that would least impact the adjacent wetlands and Bayou Tortue.

As I mentioned before, the recent changes in FAA regulations regarding construction of runways over wetlands has prompted the FHWA and LADOTD to reconsider modifying the University/Surrey overpass to possibly avoid displacing the RPZ glide path. (Listed as Potential Design Modification #10; the full list of proposed modifications can be found here.)Such a study, though, does not avoid the basic fact that, even with the wetland impact, the runway displacement would not be anywhere near the destroyer of Lafayette that folk like Michael Waldon would assume it to be.

The Great Debunking Of The Teche Ridge Bypass: Why It Is NOT The Alternative To The Connector Some Would Argue

Map of proposed I-49 Lafayette Connector freeway

The group of people who are opposed to the I-49 Connector freeway project through Lafayette have always tended to build their case around an alternative alignment referred as the Teche Ridge Bypass, which would revert the proposed Interstate highway to the east of the center of Lafayette through St. Martin Parish, then reconnect with existing I-49 generally east of Carencro. Their argument has always been that Teche Ridge would be much cheaper, would avoid the displacements and divisions that the Connector alignment using the Evangeline Thruway/US 90 corridor would allegedly ensue, and could be built in “half the time” for “half the cost”.

With all respect to these people, who’s legitimate concerns about the impact of the Connector are worthy of addressing, I will show here why Teche Ridge is not as much a slam dunk solution to finishing I-49 through Lafayette. Indeed, a closer investigation will find that it is more of an airball.

First, a brief history summary lesson: In 1993, after the first I-49 Connector environmental study was terminated before a Final Environmental Impact Statement could be produced, the Lafayette Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO, at that time called the Lafayette Areawide Planning Commission) paid for the Lafayette North-South Corridor Study, which analyzed 4 alternative corridors for completing I-49 through Lafayette. One circled around metro Lafayette to its west and south (Western Bypass); two bypassed Lafayette to the east (Eastern Bypass ran from just north of Carencro to near Breaux Bridge to link up with US 90 just north of Broussard; Eastern Alignment was similar to Eastern Bypass but shifted its connection to I-49 North to just south of Gloria Switch Road); and one used the Evangeline Thruway/US 90 corridor. A map of the LN/SCS alternatives studied appears below:

Corridors for Lafayette North-South Corridor Study (1993)
Full report downloadable by clicking on link.

That study concluded that the Evangeline Thruway corridor was still the most desirable and cost-efficient choice for extending I-49 due to environmental factors and traffic counts. Their analysis reported that since only 11% of traffic on the Thruway/US 90 corridor was traffic bypassing the city of Lafayette, a bypass would not attract or divert enough traffic from the central corridor to be cost effective; and there would also be enormous environmental impacts on wetlands and sensitive tributaries (such as Cypress Swamp and the Vermilion River).

It was soon after that study was released that opponents of the Connector decided to search for another east bypass alternative that would be more suitable for their needs; by 1994, it appeared that they had found it when the St. Martin Parish Police Jury contracted out the engineering firm of Baker and Associates to perform a “feasibility study” on a new bypass route. It was dubbed the “Teche Ridge Bypass” because it followed the Couteau-Teche Ridge that overlooks the Bayou Teche and Vermilion River basins; running between Cypress Swamp and Bayou Teche basin. A rendering of the proposed Teche Ridge Bypass taken from that study appears below:

An overview of the I-49 Teche Ridge Bypass alternative,
from the Baker and Associates study.
(via the I-49 Teche Ridge Facebook page)

 Since then, Connector opponents have been pushing Teche Ridge as the go-to “common sense” alternative to avoid the “mistakes” of building the Connector through “the heart of Lafayette”. Under actual analysis, however, their arguments turn out to be wishful thinking at best.

First off, let’s deal with the cost issue. Teche Ridge proponents are always pushing that their bypass will be significantly cheaper to construct than the Connector (or, as they derisively call the central alignment, “the Con”). The initial quote given by the St. Martin Parish study gave a raw total cost of $400 million for construction of the bypass; which would roughly compare to the estimate of $350 million quoted for construction of the 5.5 miles of the Connector from I-10 to just south of Lafayette Regional Airport. The section just south of the airport to the US 90/LA 88 interchange is covered by another project linked to the entire US 90 to I-49 South upgrade. That section had an projected cost of $350 million; which would make the combined cost of the overlapping portions of the central corridor $750 million. That would appear to justify the Teche Ridge advocates’ claim of their alignment being cheaper.

Or, so they think.

The group Concerned Citizens of Lafayette teamed up with the Greater Lafayette Sierra Club to file a lawsuit against the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to block implementation of the 2003 Record of Decision approving of the currently proposed I-49 Connector freeway alignment. In their lawsuit, they explicitly promoted the Teche Ridge Bypass as a superior alternative to the approved corridor, citing costs and less negative impacts. Part of their case came in the form of an affidavit that they sent to LADOTD as a elongated comment response to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that was released in October 2002 prior to final approval in the ROD. Here is one paragraph of Concerned Citizens’ affidavit where they defend Teche Ridge:

LADOTD, in their 2003 I-49 Connector ROD, offered this series of responses to the Concerned Citizens’ brief, which calls directly into question those arguments.

Keep in mind that that was $601 million in 1993 US dollars; you would have to adjust accordingly for inflation to reach the current value for the Teche Ridge Bypass, which would probably bring the total to around $700-750 million. And, that would not include the costs of improvements that would still be required along the US 90 corridor to meet the traffic needs that Teche Ridge would fail to address because it would not attract traffic away from the Evangeline Thruway/US 90 corridor.
Most recently, opponents of the I-49 Connector and backers of Teche Ridge have used the current estimate of the costs of building the Connector freeway based on the now currently ongoing Corridor Conceptual Design Study as a wedge to push their favored bypass. They use the currently quoted estimated cost of $750 million to $1 billion as a wedge in their favor…except that that estimate doesn’t necessarily reflect the actual construction costs, but rather the amount of revenue that LADOTD has estimated they could get allocated for the project through Federal and state funding. Furthermore, there has still been no true official feasibility study of the Teche Ridge route to analyze its true economic and social impacts on its path, which would involve its own issues of sensitive wetlands and displacements as well. 
Future posts here will debunk the exact claims that the Connector would do permanent damage to Lafayette such that only a bypass would be sufficient. For now, though, a discussion of the fundamental flaws of Teche Ridge will suffice.
(to be continued)

Introduction: Building A Better Connector For Lafayette

First off, a disclaimer: I represent no one but myself, and my opinions here are strictly my own. They do not reflect anyone from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Lafayette City/Parish Consolidated Government (LCG), or any agency affiliated with the I-49 Connector Partners design team or that of the Evangeline Thruway Redevelopment Team’s Evangeline Corridor Initiative (ECI). All official inquiries about the Connector freeway project should be deferred to the official Lafayette Connector website,  DOTD, FHWA or LCG.

I have been a supporter of the process of building a freeway within the Evangeline Thruway corridor in Lafayette for most of my lifetime, and I have seen the progression of the development of this project from its initial conception during the 1980’s to the current Conceptual Design Study now ongoing.

The process for implementing the I-49 Lafayette Connector has been inching along in a jerky fashion: from the aborted 1992 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), to the 1993 North-South Corridor Study, to the 2003 Final EIS, approved with a Record of Decision, to the original Conceptual Design Study that started in 2007 but was terminated in 2008. Along the way, the process has met with organized and passionate opposition from many citizens and organizations who fear that the implementation of the Connector would further divide and destroy the inner fabric of Lafayette. Most of them have promoted as an alternative a loop bypass called the Teche Ridge Alternative, which would run to the east of Lafayette proper generally along the Coteau-Teche Ridge plateau above the Bayou Teche and Vermilion River basins through St. Martin and eastern Lafayette parishes.

The promoters of Teche Ridge contest that that alternative would complete the extension of Interstate 49 from Lafayette to New Orleans at far less a cost fiscally and environmentally than the Connector would. They even went as far as to file a lawsuit after the initial Record of Decision for the Connector project’s current alignment was approved in 2003; but their suit was thrown out by U. S. District Judge Tucker Melancon in 2004; that decision survived an appeal to the U. S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals later that year.

The current Conceptual Design Study and Preliminary Design process was restarted in October 2015, using protocol and conditions set forward through the Joint Agreement between DOTD, FHWA, and LCG that was signed in 2002 as a precondition to the ROD, Originally, this process was supposed to simply reconfirm and implement the preapproved 2003 Selected Alternative (RR-4 with MPO Subalternative and Subalternative H), with additional Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) design integrated into the entire alignment to fulfill the requirements of full integration and connectivity within the neighborhoods affected within. In the midst of sharp concerns from some local community  interests about the divisive impacts of some elements of the Selected Alternative, however, the Connector Design Team decided to open the floor for “refinements”; i.e., modifications to the Selected Alternative that would mitigate these concerns. As a result, 19 refinement concept modification proposals and 23 design modifications were proposed and either were or are now being analyzed as modifications to the original alternative.

In addition to that, the FHWA, in the midst of performing an Environmental Reevaluation of the 2003 Record of Decision, which is required for any major project where over 3 years had passed since a ROD was approved, determined that a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) was the appropriate protocol and review for these refinements and potential modifications. That process was initiated in August of this year, and will produce an amended ROD by at the latest the spring of 2018.

Another player in this was the Evangeline Thuway Redevelopment Team (ETRT), the organization entrusted by Lafayette Consolidated Government with the job of incorporating the Connector freeway design with the neighborhoods and downtown sections that would be bisected by the project. In 2015, ETRT applied for and was awarded $500,000 from the US Department of Transportation through their Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program, for the purpose of expanding and maintaining connectivity and neighborhood-appropriate economic development for the Evangeline Thruway/Lafayette Connector corridor. The Connector would take most of the Evangeline Thruway for its right-of-way, only deviating for a 2 mile section on new alignment between near Simcoe Street and just north of Pinhook Road. The Evangeline Corridor Initiative (ECI) was the functional organization for these efforts, and their studies yielded two particular design concepts for the downtown portion of I-49:

  • Elevated Mainline with Signature Bridge: in which the freeway would be fully elevated throughout the downtown area with no standalone interchanges, but with the existing Evangeline Thruway modified (perhaps converted to an urban boulevard) to serve as the access for downtown connections and major streets; the viaduct would be raised to a maximum of 40 feet above ground level and enhanced with CSS concepts as green space, park space, maximum joint use with pedestrian/bicycle access, and parking; and with considerations for appropriate development within the corridor.
  • Partially Depressed And Covered Mainline: in which the Connector freeway mainline would be sunk 10 feet below ground level and given another 10 feet of vertical clearance above ground, for a total of 20 feet of vertical clearance; then completely covered in the form of a partially submerged tunnel, with berm treatment on both sides using 100 – 150 feet either side with 6 percent sloping allowing for cross streets to pass over the “tunnel” for connectivity; and allowing for development via mixed use on either side of the mainline freeway accessible through an avenue/boulevard setup flanking or on top of the mainline structure. (There is also an option for the boulevard using the existing Thruway ROW.)

I will cover more about the ECI options in future posts, as well as why I favor the Partially Depressed and Covered option as the best solution for implementing the Connector through Lafayette. For the moment, though, there is the matter of some of the arguments that are currently being made against the Connector by the very same people who have been opposing the alignment through Lafayette from the very beginning. In particular, the Greater Lafayette Sierra Club has been in the forefront of efforts to kill the Connector project and replace it with a bypass — mostly, the Teche Ridge bypass, but also the proposed Lafayette Regional Expressway (LRX) outer tollway loop that would go south and west of Lafayette. Their Y-49 and Teche Ridge Facebook pages state their cases quite adequately, as well as this blog formed by a well known and very outspoken opponent of the Connector freeway.

I do not in any way wish to demean Michael Waldon, Harold Scheffler, or any of the other opponents whom have advocated against the Connector freeway, nor do I want to diminish in any way that this project will indeed have some major impacts and much dislocations for people within the city of Lafayette. They have every right to speak their mind and offer critique and promote their alternatives. What I intend to do is to just as respectfully counter their arguments and refute their claims about the Connector having a negative impact and the Teche Ridge alternative being a suitable alternative. I intend to make the counter claim from my own perspective and using fact and detail that the Connector freeway, with the modifications and alterations proposed by the ECI and a few proposed by myself, can be and is the best alternative for completing I-49 through Lafayette.

References, unless explicitly stated otherwise, will use all of the historical documentation of the I-49 Lafayette Connector freeway project as listed in the Project Library section of DOTD’s Lafayette Connector website.