Bridge prospect excites Iberville

• By ROY PITCHFORD
• Advocate Westside bureau
• Published: Mar 4, 2008 - Page: 1B

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PLAQUEMINE — White Castle residents Luke Babin and E.L. Gueho were among the early arrivals Monday for the Iberville Parish scoping hearing on the proposed Baton Rouge Loop, and were philosophical about the plans for a super highway.

“Everybody’s concerned about the traffic,” Babin said, “but no one wants something this big in their back yard.”

“It’s like what people used to say,” Gueho said. “Everybody wants good drainage, but nobody wants a ditch on their property.”

But then they said, almost in unison, “I’d love to have a bridge.”

Though portions of Iberville Parish run along the east and west banks of the Mississippi River, it does not have a bridge. People must either cross the river on a ferry or drive to Baton Rouge or Donaldsonville to get on a bridge.

As about 200 people participated in the three-hour, come-and-go session at the Plaquemine Civic Center, the prospect of Iberville Parish getting a bridge seemed to delight almost everyone.

“We need a bridge,” parish Assessor Jimmy Dupont said. “I hope I can see it in my lifetime. All the other parishes have a bridge. Why not Iberville?”

The proposed 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. Four of the five area parish presidents are scheduled to visit Texas this week and discuss tolls and public-private partnerships.

A few people at Monday’s meeting voiced specific concerns — wanting the highway portion of the loop to be routed around subdivisions, keeping it away from environmentally sensitive areas, and making sure people who lose houses and land to loop construction are fairly compensated.

But over and over, they mentioned the possibility of a bridge.

Bobby Freeman, a former lieutenant governor and former state representative, said he thinks Iberville Parish is the logical place for a new bridge.

“Halfway between Interstate 10 and the Sunshine Bridge,” he observed.

Freeman also saw wisdom in uniting the portions of the parish east and west of the Mississippi River.