Government Street as a destination, not just a conduit for traffic flow—that’s what many residents and planners have wanted for years. This goal aligns with the mission of Dan Burden, executive director of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute.
Burden wants cities to stop adding more lanes for cars and upgrade instead to “complete streets” that accommodate all forms of transportation, eliminate dangerous traffic and congestion and focus on neighborhood gathering areas. The mantra is that if cities plan for traffic and roadways, they get traffic and roadways. “If you plan for people and places, you get people and places,” Burden says.
Burden was asked to perform a walking audit of Government Street—with local planners, federal highway engineers and others in tow—and offered his assessment to a crowd of passionate locals at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum in early April.
Making Government Street more pedestrian-friendly would involve trimming the road to two lanes with a center lane for turns and parallel or diagonal parking on the outside, replacing intersections with roundabouts and providing clearly marked bike and walking pathways. Communities from California to Gulf Shores, Ala., that have invested in similar changes have seen a reduction in car accidents, decreased road congestion and increased property values.
During Burden’s audit, he took pictures of a mother trying to cross a busy intersection with a stroller, people waiting at a bus stop without any covered seating, and vast, empty parking lots with shops set far from the road. That’s not creating a sense of place, Burden says.
“I was amazed how many engineers had a-ha moments,” Burden told the crowd. “But if I can be honest, your city participation sucks. The few that were there left early. I was embarrassed for them for leaving.”
That statement, responding to an audience member who questioned the level of participation and interest from local government, was met with applause.
Lacy Strohschein, special initiatives manager for the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX), says Burden’s assessment helped shine a light on problem areas.
“I was most encouraged by the reflections from DOTD and Federal Highway Administration engineers at the end of the audit—many of whom commented on how easy, safe and cost-effective Dan’s suggestions were.”
CPEX Executive Vice President Rachel DiResto says the audit will help inform DOTD studies already underway. “They were able to see firsthand how these improvements might work and take them into account for the next design phase,” she says.
Of course, any infrastructure improvements meant to create destinations along Government would supplement what is already happening in small pockets throughout the emerging cultural district of Mid City. Artist Brad Jensen was one of the first young entrepreneurs to have a new vision for the area. Jensen organizes arts events for the neighborhood, and in 2009, he opened Bricks & Bombs, an art and apparel shop and gallery space, on Government.
Since then, Kerry Beary’s Atomic Pop Shop, The Radio Bar and Denicola’s Furniture and Upholstery have opened within a block of Bricks & Bombs.
“It feels really good to know there are other creative people that share similar dreams and passions,” Jensen says.
The artist and business owner admits the area has its challenges, particularly some property owners who, he believes, don’t share this emerging vision for redevelopment.
“You can’t ask Perkins Rowe prices when you are surrounded by check-cashing places, and you can’t harvest businesses that don’t contribute to the culture in a ‘cultural district,’” Jensen says. “Give an independent with a great idea and a little money a chance. Baton Rouge isn’t very big, so a group effort and cooperation is a must.”
Walkable. Hip. Urban. These are the terms used by the FuturEBR Strategic Implementation Plan released last fall to describe what Government Street ought to be.
The plan targets Mid City as the most desirable “pilot project” for urban renewal in Baton Rouge, with 3,500 new households and 20,000 new jobs projected by the year 2030.
Urban Renewal Districts use tax revenue-backed bonds to reinvest in the area from which the revenue was collected for the purpose of streetscape and mobility improvements, land acquisitions and public-private partnerships.
One of the area’s latest projects is Danny McGlynn’s purchase of 2987 Government Street, a long-abandoned building he calls a “big oozing wound” for the corridor. Ritter Maher Architects plans to redesign the property and relocate there, but first McGlynn needs grant dollars for façade and other improvements from the local redevelopment authority.
“We want to reset the clock on Government Street,” says architect Scott Ritter. “But it is going to take a collaborative effort for it to work financially. This is about more than making money. It’s about making a difference.”—J.R.
