Three parish presidents have withdrawn their support for the proposed Baton Rouge Loop, an 85-mile highway around the Baton Rouge area.Iberville Parish President Mitchell Ourso and Livingston Parish President Mike Grimmer both resigned last week from the Capital Area Expressway Authority’s Executive committee, which oversees possible loop construction.Ascension Parish President Tommy Martinez resigned from the panel April 16.”It is my understanding that the northern portion of the loop project is the only portion under consideration,” Ourso said.East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden and West Baton Rouge Parish President Riley Berthelot remain on the committee.Ourso has said he wouldn’t support the loop project if a bridge was constructed in West Baton Rouge Parish instead of Iberville Parish.”Without Iberville Parish having a bridge crossing on the southern loop of the proposed project, I do not feel Iberville parish has any viable interest in the Baton Rouge Loop project,” Ourso said.Area residents are concerned about the construction time frame.Construction for the loop would take place in phases and would not begin for three to five years, said Baton Rouge Loop spokesperson Rannah Gray.Funding for the loop has also been a concern.”I know that the financial constraints facing the state will adversely affect the project in the future,” Ourso said.Seventy-seven percent of residents don’t believe the loop will ever be built, according to an April poll by the Baton Rouge Business Report.”I certainly recognize the traffic congestion on I-10 in the Baton Rouge area … [the] public is in desperate need of relief for this daily inconvience,” Ourso said.Past alternatives to the loop include a toll road linking Livingston and Ascension parishes or a westbank expressway. The Baton Rouge Loop would stretch through Ascension, East Baton Ruoge, Iberville, Livingston and West Baton Rouge parishes. Open houses displaying plans for the loop took place Jan. 13 through Jan. 25 this year. Planning for the loop began in early 2007.Land-use meetings were held in early February to map out growth. —-Contact Grace Montgomery at [email protected].