Smart Growth, the Ozone and Trains?

When we started on our campaign to make sure the Loop would not destroy our community, historic homes, ancient oaks and the Spanish Lake Basin area, we never thought that we would begin looking at the problem of transportation in Baton Rouge as a whole. It makes sense though. If we are going to object to the loop coming through our town, we had better get educated about it or the inevitable “NIMBY” word will get thrown at us.

So, we started doing our homework, looking at DOTD documents, asking questions, going to meetings and basically doing a LOT of research (see our links page on http://www.smartbrloop.com/ for some of the great resources we’ve found). We didn’t want to be perceived at “anti- progress” or “anti-transportation”.

What happened sort of surprised us. Through a chain of events that could only be serendipitous, we all met up at Alligator Bayou one night at a meeting to help save the Bayou. Realizing that the issue was bigger than saving the alligators or our homes, we saw a common goal emerging. We pooled our resources, abilities and took turns going to meetings and doing research (after all – none of us gets PAID to do this – we do have lives outside of this ya-know). The end result is this blog, a website by the same name and our new mission: to convince those in power to have some vision and look at our transportation problems as a whole. One road or system of roads in not going to fix every problem we have.

We have all heard the term “Smart Growth” before. It’s a new favorite buzzword for politicians. Actually, it’s a real way of thinking that makes a whole heck of a lot of sense. It’s great that our leaders like how smart growth sounds, but what we need is for them to really UNDERSTAND what it implies. When dealing with transportation issues, Smart Growth demands that we have a variety of ways to get from point A to point B. When you want to go to work or out to dinner, this does not mean: “Do I take Airline or the Interstate?” What it does mean is: "Do I take the train, bus, taxi or do I drive?" In Baton Rouge, we have no real viable options.

Sure, there are some bus routes and once a pitiful attempt was made at a Park-n-Ride system. But these were never fully fleshed out or well funded. Trains, buses and mass transit options only work if they are fully funded, dependable, reliable, clean and consistent. If we took the time to do it right by making stations attractive, hiring the best people to run them and locating them properly, they could potentially be a solution to both our traffic and non-attainment problems.

What’s “non-attainment?

On March 12, 2008, the EPA released tougher standards for ozone pollution. “Five parishes in the Baton Rouge area are out of compliance with current ozone pollution standards: East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Livingston, Ascension and Iberville.” The Advocate, March 12, 2008 . What does this have to do with the loop? Basically, ozone pollution comes from many sources such as industry and automobiles. In fact, the EPA considers motor vehicle exhaust as one of the major man-made sources of NOx and VOCs. We are in danger of being moved to the EPA’s non-attainment list (if we haven’t been moved to that list already). When an area is designated as being in non-attainment, there are consequences.

The EPA is requiring that we do something about our compliance to the new Ozone Regulations and the Clean Air Act. The quicker we adopt alternative methods of transportation, the more money we will save in the long run. Let’s spend our money once the right way instead of spending it over and over again on projects doomed to fail from conception.

Trains can be a major part of the overall solution

Did you know that traveling by train is one of the most efficient modes of transportation in terms of fuel efficiency per passenger? If we could reduce the amount of cars on the road, not only would congestion on the existing roads be decreased, but we could also reduce the amount of NOx and VOC’s released in to the atmosphere – helping us to get into compliance and get off the non-attainment list.

BTW, have you SEEN the prices at the pumps lately? My mini van and my husbands SUV aren’t looking so great anymore. We have 3 kids in car seats so a Prius is out of the question. Instead of giving up our cars, we could just drive them less, right? I can’t imagine anything that would be more fun for the kids than to take a train – and more relaxing for me. Or how about this: Imagine, reading a book on the way to work instead of cursing the traffic?

Like toll roads, the rails will have a revenue source: fares. People will pay to ride the rails. In many cases with rising fuel costs, it will actually be cheaper to ride than drive. Additionally, it will encourage smart growth in the right areas. Residential and commercial development would go up around train stations. Young professionals who may not be able to afford a car can live near the train station and get to downtown or to Essen lane on the train. Restaurants and night life catering to these young professionals would be attracted to these areas as well. This is smart growth! Think of all the tax dollars this would bring in…

Learn more about Smart Growth by visiting http://www.smartgrowth.org/

My 2 Cents

Putting a Loop on top of growth make no sense what-so-ever - unless you are trying to find someone to pay for your toll road... By putting the BR Loop Toll Road through Highway 42 in Prairieville, they would basically destroy the character of our town and convert a residential area with light commercial into a major commercial highway.

Have you ever driven down Siegen during lunch or rush hour? Is traffic on that road smooth sailing or does it get backed up and congested? If anything, widening Highway 42 to look like Siegen and connecting it to the Loop would bring MORE traffic to our area - not improve it. We need our highway widened and fixed - not turned into a massive commercial corridor!

If our elected officials truly cared about the people they are paid to represent, they will protect our communities and work on transportation solutions that will work in the LONG RUN. We ask simply this: Look towards the future (after all – it will be 10 to 15 years before this project is even completed) and focus on the southern Ascension Parish Loop corridor and other options such as improving existing roads and Mass Transit.

It has been projected that the future of growth in our region will, in fact, be in that southern part of Gonzales. Wouldn’t it be nice to be ahead of the game for a change and have infrastructure in place BEFORE the boom in growth hits? This part of our parish could benefit greatly from the spark in growth the toll road would bring. Knowing this ahead of time, that the loop would go through the southern part of our parish, residential areas would not go up on that route and the land could be set asside and reserved for this purpose.

If any of us out in Prairieville liked the idea of living next to or right on Siegen, we would have moved there instead of here. Why should we loose the beauty and character of our town so some private company can make money off our misery?

Website up and running!

Our website, by the same name, is up and running. Go to www.smartbrloop.com and check it regularly for updates and more information. Stay informed!

Trains, please

Article from The Advocate:
http://www.2theadvocate.com/opinion/16741086.html?showAll=y&c=y

Wouldn't it be nice to take a train from Gonzales to Downtown? Or even to Essen Lane? Or better yet, leave your car behind and take the kids on a train to the Audubon Zoo and the Aquarium in New Orleans? There are other options out there that make sense for the world we are living in - A world where the price of fossil fuels is getting higher and higher every day... A world where our national security may well depend on our self suffiency and weaning ourselves from oil imports...

I've traveled all over the world and the greatest cities don't all have loops, they have trains.
JMHO

To whom do we write now?

OK, we've written to the 5 Parish presidents; is there anyone else we need to write? Well, yes.

Governor Bobby Jindal, for one. He recognizes there are huge transportation needs, as shown in the commitment in the last special session of the legislature and his appointment of a new secretary of the DOTD who has already asked his folks to look at new ideas for traffic.

Now go to Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter. There are federal dollars needed for this project, even with tolls. Senator Landrieu is a long proponent of Smart Growth and just last month helped welcome Louisiana mayors and others from across the country to a Smart Growth conference in Washington D.C., see http://www.newpartners.org/agenda.html .

But anyone else? One of the really wonderful things about this region is that there are some thoughtful and influential people who don't have to run for office, but care deeply about this region. And guess what? More than one of them is listed as a "stakeholder" in the Loop!

John Spain, Executive vice president, Baton Rouge Area Foundation - the BRAF has long been connected into Smart Growth and the future of our area; In fact, an article in today's The Advocate (fornt page) highlights the BRAF's current drive to look at the quality of life (including "lack of public transportatation"). Let him know what you think.

Stephen Moret, Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce - The Chamber is all about attracting new business and you can't attract new business if you transportation system sucks (sorry, that's a southerner's legal term for "ain't worth a darn").

There are more, but this is a start.

Resources!

Go to www.brloop.com to see the latest proposed paths of the BRLoop.

For information on how the loop impacts the Spanish Lake Basin. Go to www.leanweb.org and watch their video titled "Baton Rouge Loop Threatens Alligator Bayou".

If you live in the "yellow zone" and want to learn how to voice your opinion to the planning committe, get contact information and sample letters, join our yahoo group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jeffersonxing/

Welcome to SmartBR Loop!

The people behind SmartBRLoop.com are citizens who want to see the plans for the BRLoop both look into the future and take into consideration the permanent damage it will cause for what is only a temporary solution in the current loop.

Smart Growth implies that we look towards the future and explore all the options. The scope of the current mission given to the engineers (1) examines only one weapon in the war against transportation congestion: a toll road, and (2) fails to include the State, which owns every mode of transportation in the BR Metro region.

Let's face it. The BR Metro region has a major congestion problem.However, the problem is a TRANSPORTATION problem, NOT JUST A TRAFFIC problem. The mission of the engineering team was simply to create a loop - not to fix our transportation issues with an eye for the future. This narrow scope does not allow the engineers the latitude they need to truly accomplish what should be their #1 goal: To improve the quality of life for all citizens of the region through improved transportation options that cut down on congestion and pollution/carbon emissions.

The goal of SmartBRLoop.com is to inform and educate the people of Ascension Parish and the BR Metro regions of other, smarter options. We don't have to sit back and accept just one idea of how our communities should look.