I just recently read this morning’s article from the Lafayette Advertiser by Claire Taylor over the ruckus that took place yesterday at the latest I-49 Connector Community Work Group meeting…and it has me fuming.
It is getting more and more obvious that the LADOTD, through their consultant group Lafayette Connector Partners, is insistent on ramming a bare bones Elevated Option freeway down the collective throats of Lafayette citizens, with little if any concern or respect for those citizens who would be affected, or those who actually want to make the Connector freeway work the best for Lafayette.
Ms. Taylor’s article documents the tense and often heated arguments that took place between LADOTD Project Manager Tim Nickel and some members of the CWG, concerning questions they had about the Tier II analysis of the four alternatives put forth. In the end, Nickel ignored their questions, finished the presentation over their heads, and abruptly dismissed the meeting, leaving many members in shock.
More from Ms. Taylor’s article:
When Interstate 49 [C]onnector committee members asked questions and voiced concerns Thursday about the planning process and level of public input, the state highway department’s project manager ignored their questions and adjourned the meeting.
Tim Nickel with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development appeared to become frustrated with questions by members of the I-49 Lafayette community working group. As committee members asked questions near the end of a two-hour meeting, Nickel returned to a PowerPoint presentation, speaking over over their questions, then abruptly adjourned the meeting.
“We’re citizens who were invited to attend and participate, and DOTD shut us down with questions still to be asked,” CWG committee member John Arceneaux said afterwards.
Margaret Trahan, executive director of United Way of Acadiana and a CWG member, added, “Tonight’s meeting was very frustrating. I’m not leaving with a clear understanding of why I’m here.”
The main frustration that the CWG members had was with the analysis of the Concept 6 series of alternatives, in particular the Concept 6-2 “Cut-and-Cover” alternative that called for a full 1-1/2 mile covered tunnel with jet engine ventilation. That alternative was vetted to be the most expensive for the downtown section between Pinhook Road and the Louisiana & Delta Railroad spur crossing, at more than $800 million dollars. By contrast, the Series 4 Elevated Options, which call for an continuously elevated freeway throughout the corridor, was vetted to cost less than $430-450 million dollars….but that did not include any consideration of a “signature bridge” or alterations for neighborhood connectivity or pedestrian/bicycle accessability.
The meeting also exposed the conflict between the LCP team authorized by LADOTD to design the project and the Evangeline Thruway Redevelopment Team (ETRT), the group empowered by Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government to develop means to incorporate the Connector project with all the neighborhoods affected. The ETRT, through their Evangeline Corridor Initiative, had created their own separate design concepts for meeting that need; one each for the two concept design series that had advanced to the Tier II study analysis process. As a result, the ETRT had developed their own Cut-and-Cover proposal that ended up radically different than the Concept 6-2 “Cut-and-Cover” tunnel that was ultimately proposed by LCP/DOTD.
The main frustration from the CWG members was about why LCP didn’t allow for consideration in their cost analysis of the conceptual alternatives for additional funding for the “signature bridge” and other CSS design/connectivity components; and also why ETRT’s partial Cut-and-Cover proposal wasn’t given a better vetting or a chance to be altered.
Nickel’s response was that the LCP and consultant team couldn’t give an answer at that point because the process was still ongoing; and that the decisions would be done in January when final “hybrid” alternatives for the entire corridor would be created for Tier III and Supplemental EIS analysis and final selection.
In an earlier article for the Advertiser, Ms. Taylor summarized the situation nicely:
The tunnel version proposed by ETRT after meeting with residents near the interstate route wasn’t intended to be a 1.5-mile long tunnel, Blanchard said, but a partial cut and cover to reduce noise and provide connectivity. Instead of a cost estimate for a partial cut and cover, consultants provide a price for a 1.5-mile long tunnel with a large embankment and jet engine turbine. It includes all the bells and whistles, he said.
The elevated version is a bare-bones model that doesn’t include the cost of a signature bridge, pedestrian and bike lanes, or improvements along Evangeline Thruway such as a grand boulevard. Blanchard said it was a surprise to the ETRT Nov. 30 when Tim Nickel, project manager with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, said he couldn’t commit to paying for bike and pedestrian paths even if they are inside the project right of way.
The group asked for a more limited cost estimate for the partial cut and cover design that would include less tunnel and less embankment than a large tunnel.
“The concern is the 4 series cost estimates, because they don’t include the cost of components such as the signature bridge, are artificially low, while the costs of 6.2, because they may include all the ‘bells and whistles,’ are artificially high,” Blanchard wrote.
The ETRT, Blanchard said, also raised many questions about the signature bridge, which has substantial community support but was not included in the four designs the consulting team advanced in the planning process.
Nickel also, as did his predecessor Toby Picard, dismissed a bit causticly the ETRT’s role in analysis of the conceptual alternatives, stating that they weren’t “an equal partner” in the consideration for a final Connector freeway alternative. Never mind that the ETRT is fully empowered by the original Joint Collective Agreement signed by LADOTD, FHWA, and LCG to provide direct feedback on the project’s impacts on the abutting neighborhoods.
When ETRT member Kevin Blanchard asked Nickel if he would commit to saying that the Series 6 alternatives — especially the Cut-and-Cover alternative — would be allowed to be altered by ETRT or would be eliminated in favor of the Elevated Series 4 concepts, Nickel was noncommited, saying that that decision would be reached by then.
CWG members also expressed frustration with the limited public feedback allowed at their meetings; public comment was limited to only notes on cards, with no time given for verbal discussion. In addition, the membership of the CWG has significantly dwindled down from its initial 60 members down to around 11, and most feedback from the Open House Meeting was limited to comments from other committee members or submitted from attendees at that meeting.
The only compromise that Nickel would give to the ETRT was to allow their objections to be put in the public record at the meeting; but there was no commitment by him to even discuss any of their concerns.
And, it’s not the first time that the LCP has been frosty to the ETRT; when the ECI originally introduced their alternate concepts for the freeway back in August, then Project Manager Toby Picard dismissed them as irrelevant to the process. After an uproar by Lafayette Parish Govermment Councilman Bruce Conque, Picard backed off and reluctantly allowed the ETRT/ECI alternatives into consideration.
But, it appears that LADOTD is still under the impression that only the cheapest, bare bones Connector project will be able to get funding in these austere fiscal days, and that they are driven to push the Elevated option down the throats of Lafayette without any consideration for what may be better.
This is playing with fire, because if LADOTD can’t handle the friendly criticism and analysis of those who do want the Connector built but done right for the citizens of Lafayette, then how will they react when the community revolts in opposition and joins the Teche Ridge Bypass lobby with their ultimate lawsuits and obstruction? The resulting delays could potentially kill not just the best chance to build I-49 through Lafayette, but possibly kill the entire I-49 South extension to New Orleans.
DOTD really needs to take heed and listen to the people for a change before they lose everything.