Government Street Reclamation

T-3

Observation

Government Street, a four-lane arterial street bisecting the heart of Beauregard Town, is universally regarded as an automobile oriented artery.

Discussion

The alignment of Government Street midway be-tween two blocks in the Beauregard Town street grid (France Street and Spain Street) results in a series of blocks that are only one property in depth. While a major entry point for most visi-tors to Downtown (particularly to the Centroplex and the Catfish Town Casino), Government Street is a blighted and unappealing driving experience. Although geographically in the center of the community, it not only fails to serve as a community focus, but to the contrary, serves as a community divider.

The long-term strategy is the reclamation of Government Street as a community focus, stage by stage.

Recommendation A

The first stage of the reclamation of Government Street should be through the reassertion of the historic town square, originally bordered by St. Charles Street on the west, Spain Street on the north, Napoleon Street on the east and France Street on the south. Starting with these two blocks, Government Street should be narrowed to 40’ in width and resurfaced with a distinctive paving material, in conjunction with the placement of on-street parking on both sides of the street. If these parking lanes create a problem for rush-hour traffic, mark “no parking” in the westbound lane from 7-9 AM, and in the eastbound lane from 4-6 PM. Sidewalks shall be widened to include regular trees in planters. This reclaimed section of Government Street will then become the highly visible prototype for further reclamation to both the east and the west. The position of this two block section on a slight topographical crest assures it the highest visibility of any point along Government Street.

In earlier stages, through traffic will continue to regard Govern-ment Street as a continuous arterial street but one with a different design speed and thereby a different travel behavior through the historic town square section between Napoleon Street and St. Charles Street. As the reclamation of Government Street continues to the east and west, it can be expected that some traffic will circumvent the center of the “town square” through the use of Spain Street or France Street. This pattern of traffic flow would then begin to resemble the traditional “courthouse square” with traffic proceeding around a civic feature with many intersecting streets joining the pattern at that point.

[The Baton Rouge Downtown Transportation Plan does not recommend the rebuilding of the historic town square on Government Street due to the significant volume of traffic on Government.

The Baton Rouge Downtown Transportation Plan does recommend pedestrian traffic improve-ments: pedestrian crossing striping and a mid-block pedestrian crossing at or near Napoleon Street.]

Recommendation B

An important complement to the recla-mation of Government Street would be the elimination of the sweeping fifty-mile-per-hour curve at the connection between Government Street (LA 73) and River Road (LA 30) adjacent to the Civic Center. This change would restore a normal look-ing urban street pattern to this out-of-place suburban road feature. It would also allow normal turning movements into the entertainment/casino area along River Road. Further, it would provide more usable area for Centroplex expansion. The result-ing small square surrounded by the four quadrants of turning movements would be an attractive location for public space, both highly visible and capable of being well used by Civic Center and Catfish Town visitors.

[The construction of the re-design of River Road has been completed.]

Recommendation C

A further complementary action to the South Boulevard as a major Downtown access route. This use of South Boulevard has always been intended, but has not been fully realized in detail. Some further actions that would help transform South Boulevard into an important and well-used Downtown access route include the reconfiguration of the South Tenth Street/South Boulevard intersection to favor movement from South Tenth Street onto South Boulevard westbound. This intersection should be improved through streetscape and traffic control devices into an appealing route for entry into downtown. Road signs, informal “trailblazer” signs, and dissemination of preferred route information by the Catfish Town Casino and Centroplex can also further increase the use of South Boulevard as an alternative to the use of Government Street.

[The Baton Rouge Downtown Transportation Plan does not recommend that South Boulevard be converted to a major access route at this time.]

Responsibility

Office of the Mayor

Project Status

Recommendation A

Government Street Reclamation The Baton Rouge Downtown Transportation Plan does not recommend the rebuilding of the historic town square on Government Street due to the significant volume of traffic on Government.

The Baton Rouge Downtown Transportation Plan does recommend pedestrian traffic improvements: pedestrian crossing striping and a mid-block pedestrian crossing at or near Napoleon Street.

Recommendation B

The construction of the re-design of River Road has been completed.

Recommendation C

The Baton Rouge Downtown Transportation Plan does not recommend that South Boulevard be converted to a major access route at this time.

Implementation

Explanation of Terms

Product

Comprehensive Road Improvements

Responsibility

OM & DDD

Implementing Agent

DPW

Feasibility Analysis

DPW

Initial Financing

PBR

Project Financing

CPF & FF

Timing