Complete, and also safe, streets

It was the perfect setup for a discussion on the need for better connectivity on Baton Rouge’s streets. Carmageddon, Carpocalypse or whatever NSFW name you gave it, the citywide traffic jam after a horrible accident on I-10 near Essen Lane Aug. 22 had everyone talking about our street problem. And this, just a week before the scheduled Smart Growth Summit downtown.

Of course, the streets were tested again a few days later while we waited on Hurricane Isaac to make its way inland and New Orleans-area residents filtered through the city. And then, just a few days later, Labor Day evening, a cyclist was killed in a crash with an SUV on Perkins Road—the second such death this year on Perkins.

Because of the hurricane, Center for Planning Excellence had to reschedule the Smart Growth Summit (now set for Nov. 26-28), but rest assured these three events will almost certainly come up then.

And all of it left many wondering a) when we’d seriously focus on streets that can accommodate all types of travel safely, and b) when we’d seriously focus on better connecting our mostly un-gridlike and sprawling web of roads.

Some were also wondering about the unrealized loop around the city that was becoming a buzzword again on Facebook and Twitter during the traffic jam. My esteemed colleague Slater McKay suggested it was time to take another look at the loop on his blog, as well as how these road issues can factor into local elections. JR Ball at the Business Report told us why the loop is probably no longer an appropriate option in a recent column, saying the loop would have done little to ease the pressure on commuters.

If anything, refocusing on the loop would push to the background the hyper-local issue of surface street connectivity. And if our streets are so horrible, what would make them better? Leif Remř, who has been putting together some interesting maps plotting the city’s bike racks and old streetcar lines, also examined how far one can travel in a mile in cul-de-sac-heavy South Baton Rouge versus the more grid-like Mid City (see Remř’s map here).

That might give you a good visual of the issue. A visual of the solution? CPEX’s recently released Complete Streets Policy Manual points out that the DOTD adopted policies for complete streets in 2010, and offers some guidance on how to make that happen in new road designs.