Legislators say widen more of I-12

• By WILL SENTELL
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Nov 18, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Baton Rouge area lawmakers have launched a campaign to extend the widening of Interstate 12 from O’Neal Lane to near Walker to trim traffic deaths and injuries that have plagued the corridor.

The state is already preparing to begin a $100 million project to expand I-12 to six lanes from O’Neal Lane to at least South Range Avenue in Livingston Parish, about three miles.

Under the new push, the state would spend another $60 million to continue that expansion to just east of Walker. That would extend the stretch widened by nearly six miles from South Range Avenue.

The Capital Region Legislative Delegation, which includes 26 area legislators, made a pitch recently for the $60 million in meeting with Commissioner of Administration Angèle Davis, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s chief of staff Timmy Teepell and Stephen Waguespack, deputy chief of staff.

The money would come from Louisiana’s $865 million surplus. Those funds are expected to be divided during the 2009 regular legislative session, which begins on April 27.

The I-12 congestion problem cannot be overstated, state Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge and chairman of the delegation, said Monday.

“We sure hope and pray that we will get the dollars,” Carter said.

“Hopefully, they will recognize that it is needed and necessary,” he added.

Davis said in a prepared statement that area lawmakers have turned over their spending priorities and she looks forward to “working with them as we develop surplus spending plans.”

The current, $100 million expansion plan is designed to address one of the biggest road problems in the Baton Rouge area.

Ten people died in traffic accidents over the stretch under scrutiny during a three-month period last year.

On Nov. 7, a six-vehicle collision on I-12 near the O’Neal Lane interchange resulted in seven people being taken to area hospitals and huge traffic headaches that afternoon.

The push for new dollars, lawmakers said, stems from concerns that the widening plans will merely push the traffic logjam farther east.