Loop stirs protest in Prairieville

• By SONIA SMITH
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Mar 3, 2008

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PRAIRIEVILLE — More than 100 residents in this Ascension Parish town rallied Sunday against a route of the proposed Baton Rouge Loop that would cut through their neighborhood.

One proposed route near Jefferson Highway and La. 42 would eliminate at least 50 houses in Jefferson Crossing subdivision and a former home of Robert Penn Warren, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Jefferson Crossing resident Ann Shaneyfelt said she mobilized a grass-roots campaign against the proposed route on Feb. 24, two days before the public hearing at the Gonzales Civic Center.

Before and during the Gonzales meeting, residents voiced concerns about the loop possibly being routed through Spanish Lake and Bluff Swamp and the environmental impact.

“We are not out of the woods just yet,” Shaneyfelt said Sunday. “We’re hearing through the grapevine that they want La. 42 so bad they still want to go through here.”

Shaneyfelt and other residents expressed concern about losing half of their neighborhood and the noise and traffic the proposed loop would bring to the area. “This is not smart growth,” she said. “Smart growth is about improving the quality of life.”

Carolyn Alonso, the owner of the property on which Warren’s former home sits, said he lived in the 100-year-old home off Jefferson Highway from 1941 to 1942, the last year he taught at LSU. The house sits on 12 acres of land dotted with broad live oaks and azalea bushes.

“In Washington and other places they value historic property. They build highways around historic property,” Alonso said.

The 90- to 100-mile loop is projected to take eight to 10 years to build at a estimated cost of $4 billion with the aim of easing traffic congestion on Interstates 10 and 12 in Baton Rouge. A public hearing for Iberville Parish residents — and anyone who wants to attend — on the latest proposed routes is scheduled from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. today at the Plaquemine Civic Center, 24700 J. Gerald Beret Blvd. Also, four of the five area parish presidents, including Ascension Parish President Tommy Martinez, are scheduled to visit Texas this week and discuss tolls and public-private partnerships.

Shaneyfelt urged attendees to write to local, state and federal representatives about the problems with the proposed Ascension routes.

Residents who could lose their homes expressed concern that their proximity to the loop would erode their property values and were loathe to see it built in their backyard.

Houses in the 5-year-old neighborhood run in the mid to upper 300s, Shaneyfelt said.

Joey Simoneaux, 40, was especially concerned about property values. She said she and her husband recently refinanced their house to open up a business and if property values plummet, they will owe more on their mortgage than what the property is worth.