FUTUREBR unveiled its plan Wednesday for the future functionality of Baton Rouge, focusing on public transportation that would reduce congestion and the revitalization of poorer areas and those that had once flourished.
The 20-year plan, which has been a year in the making, was a collaborative effort between “citizen planners” — normal citizens who attended open houses and filled out surveys suggesting things to change in East Baton Rouge Parish — and a firm hired out of Portland, Ore.
“This is an exciting day for Baton Rouge,” said East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Kip Holden. “Today we begin the next phase of a conversation.”
Holden said one of the goals of FUTUREBR is to attract and retain young people and help them become financially successful.
Holden enthusiastically announced the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, along with a number of other coalitions, have agreed to work together to create a public transit system that “our community deserves.”
The draft will become available to the public in April, when it will be open for revision, and will be submitted in May to a committee, who will begin getting its final approval.
The next stage of development for the plan will be interactive, allowing ideas to be tracked and answered online, said John Fregonese, lead consltant for the FUTUREBR project.
Fregonese said 1,500 citizen planners were involved with 16 open houses across the parish and another 3,350 people took the survey. Fergonese also said 30 percent of the people who took the survey were younger than 30 years old — the group’s target audience.
Fregonese said the areas around LSU and Southern University were key areas strategically.
The initial draft of the plan has a streetcar line running from downtown to LSU and a railroad built from Baton Rouge to New Orleans in an effort to streamline transportation.
Fregonese said the streetcar has the potential to carry 24,000 passengers a day, a number that surpasses the current CATS system. Despite all the congestion, the core of Baton Rouge is well suited for transit, according to Fregonese.
The results of the survey showed 53 percent of those surveyed thought it was important to widen existing roads.
The FUTUREBR draft would also build up the area around Baton Rouge Community College and Southern University and focus on building new neighborhoods to accommodate retirees and students who want to live near campus.
Fregonese said it was important to revise the zoning plan.
“If you have a green light [from the plan], you should have a very quick turnaround,” said Fregonese, who was met with applause and murmurs of approval.
Fregonese envisioned that MidCity had the potential to become the heart of Baton Rouge.
The plan would attempt to revamp aging shopping malls, like Cortana, turning the shopping mall into a multi-block shopping center.
Fregonese expressed his agreement with Holden that Baton Rouge is becoming one of the next great American cities.
Rachel Graham, director of communications for BRAC, said that as a transplant to Baton Rouge, she was excited about the plan.
St. Gabriel resident Lillian Holliday said she is enthusiastic about the plan’s benefits.
“I live south of LSU, and I can’t tell you how many miles I’ve driven,” Holliday said, referencing the streetcars that would run to LSU and bypass traffic congestion.
 
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Contact Kevin Thibodeaux at [email protected]