River Road bike path to undergo facelift
LSU will have a new pathway for bikers to ride by Fall 2003. The new pedestrian and bike path, funded through the Levee Top Improvement Project, will run along River Road on the west side of campus.
The community was invited to attend a meeting discussing the path Wednesday night at the BREC Tennis Center on Independence Boulevard.
The bike path will be four miles long, constructed on top of the levee. It will start downtown and connect with existing Farr Park. The path will be 15 feet wide. All of the levee is not that wide; workers will have to fill the land to build the path. Right now, the levee’s width varies from 11 to 15 feet.
The University is the largest land owner of the four mile stretch, with nearly two miles.
At Skip Bertman Drive, there will be ramps and a restroom facility for people using the path. The Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, 5 degree sloped inclines will be in addition to a stairwell leading to the path.
Bill Eskew, director of Facility Development, said this plan would augment and support the Master Plan. Eskew said this bike path would be one thing the University could use to develop bike paths and give closure to paths planned for campus.
“It will be a wonderful addition to what we are doing at LSU,” Eskew said.
Many students said they support the plan, mostly because the path will provide a safer way to travel than biking on the roads.
“It feels really dangerous when I ride my bike on the road,” said mass communication graduate student Xinkun Wang.
Jennifer Pike, a 1996 LSU alumna, rides her bike to work every day on Nicholson Drive.
“I don’t think people are very well-educated of the right of way of bicycles over cars,” Pike said.
Brandon Elkins, a political science senior, thinks the new path will help alleviate campus parking and would provide an alternative recreational site to the campus lakes.
“It’s a really good idea, and they should expand it [the idea] further to make it campus bike accesible” Elkins said.
Kerry Stamey, president of the Baton Rouge area Mountain Bike Association, also thinks the path is a good idea.
“I look forward to this project greatly,” Stamey said. “I think this is a very needed project.”
Bruce Wickert, president of the Baton Rouge Bicycle Club, agreed.
“We see this as a great addition,” Wickert said. “We almost all but abandoned the River Road route from LSU to downtown because of danger.”
However, the new bike path is not fully supported by all members of the biking community.
Brian Apsey, member of the Baton Rouge Bicycle Club and a member of Red Stick Racers, thinks the levee is fine to ride on now. “This plan is not necessary at all,” Apsey said.
Apsey said he could see how the project would be good for the community; however he feels it will not benefit bike clubs and the racing community.
The project now is in a master-planning phase. Within the next 30 days, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will determine community support and feedback for the project. In the next two months, the group will refine the plan.
Then, the next six months will be devoted to design and engineering blueprints. The following next six months will be for review of the documents and initiating of construction. The first phase of construction will then begin in Spring 2003. The project is expected to be complete by Fall 2003.
Members of the community expressed many concerns about the path, including a speed limit, posted rules, call boxes and patrolling of the path.
Fred Raiford, director of Public Works for East Baton Rouge Parish, said patrolling would be discussed at a later time and a decision about the issue would have to be made at that time.
There are many challenges to the path, in planning and in the site. John Eblen, a presenter of the plan, said the biggest challenge, at first, was the cows that graze on the levee across from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. Not only were the engineers concerned where the cattle would be located once the path was constructed, they also had concerns about the cattle’s safety and the people on the bike path.
There will be four pastures through which the cattle will rotate. In three of the four, water troughs and a shade area will be built. In the fourth pasture, access to water and natural shade already exist.
The engineers worked with the Vet School to fix the problem with cattle.
The cost of the path was one of the first challenges in planning. Servitudes, the people that own the property on the levee, is another.
People own the land under the levee, so the land had to be bought from these owners. Right now, people do not have the right to ride on the levee because people do own that property.
“As it presently stands today, if LSU gated off their part of the levee, they have the legal right,” said Raiford.
Public approval was the last challenge in the planning process. At the meeting, the public was encouraged to give comments as well as mail comments in the self-addressed, postage-paid envelopes provided.
There also are challenges with the site. First, there are pipes obstructing the path on top of the levee right now. One solution to this is putting a bridge over the pipes so they would not have to be tampered with.
Also there are gas lines crossing the path, as well as cattle guards.
If you have concerns or questions about the project, please send them to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, P.O. Box 60267, New Orleans, La. 70160-9916.
Jessica Waldon