Metro Council members approved Mayor-President Melvin L. “Kip” Holden’s request to fund a $10 million bond to kick-start funding for the TramLinkBR project Wednesday.
The $10 million will come from downtown parking fees and will go into the $34 million local contribution for the approximately $170 million project, HNTB project manager Ashley Booth said. The additional $136 million will be funded through federal grants.
The three-mile long tram system will connect downtown Baton Rouge, Old South Baton Rouge and the University along Nicholson Drive, running from North Street to North Stadium Drive. The project design features 11 paired stops, with three University stops at Aster Street, Galvez Court and North Stadium Drive, Booth said.
K. Stephen Bonnette, the director of the department of transportation and drainage, said the tram will drive economic development in the Nicholson corridor. Current estimates project the modern streetcar line will boost the value of area development by an additional $680 million by 2041, Booth said.
HNTB strategic planning leader Bryan Jones, a University alumnus, said the University’s position as an economic and development hub will play a major role in the tram’s success.
“Projects like this succeed when you have two strong anchors on each end, like a downtown and a university,” Jones said. “There’s really no corridor in the city that’s better suited for this project than the Nicholson corridor, largely because of LSU.”
The relationship is mutually beneficial, Jones said. The tram’s convenient location to the University will provide direct access to downtown shopping, services and nightlife, as more millennials choose to forego personal vehicles and demand viable public transportation.
The approximately 150 person tram will operate seven days a week, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and with late night hours on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, Booth said. The proposal currently calls for five tram cars with 15 minute intervals between car arrivals.
The short headways and large occupancy will connect students to key employment and internship opportunities with major employers in the downtown area, he said. The tram will also strengthen the main campus’ ties to the University’s downtown investments and partnerships, such as the Shaw Center and The Water Campus, as well as key government offices at the Capitol.
All tram stops will feature sheltered seating on a level platform, ADA accessible ramps, and a guard rail and warning strip among other features. Other possibilities include public art, bike racks and real-time vehicle arrival displays, Booth said.
Holden said the tram will afford students opportunities unavailable to previous generations of Tigers.
“I’m one of those old students who had to thumb a ride or bum a ride from somebody, in LSU grad, just to get to school,” Holden said. “This now eradicates a lot of that. It says we’re giving you a convenience factor that a lot of people never had a chance to enjoy.”
If granted federal funding, construction is anticipated to begin in 2018 and conclude in 2021.