Honey Island Group, Sierra Club -- Highway 3241

Highway 3241:
Economic Stimulus...
...or Sprawl Spreader?

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development's plan for a four-lane highway connecting Bush, Louisiana with Interstate 12 has been in the works for over twenty years. Is Highway 3241 a much needed economic stimulus for Washington Parish? Or is does it harken back to a time fifty years ago when building a highway without fitting it into plans for future growth started an unstoppable slide to sprawling concrete, flooding, and traffic congestion?

Highway 3241 Revisited!
August, 2003 -- The LDOTD has completed Phase I of its three-part study. Described as the "Preliminary Corridor Study", its goal was to produce a Purpose and Need Statement by developing a database of environmental, land use, and transportation factors.

Now, the LDOTD and its contractor, Burk & Kleinpeter, are working on Phase II, the "identification and evaluation of alternatives". At the end of July, they held three "public-comment" meetings in Pearl River, Mandeville, and Bush.

Though (apparently) the Purpose and Need Statement is complete, we have not seen it, though we have requested it and/or any public documentation of the need for this project. We've heard several Bush residents complain about the drive time to Mandeville, but these do not constitute a scientifically demonstrated clear and present need for the project.

The alternative having the least environmental impact -- expanding the present US11/LA41 corridor -- elicited no interest among meeting attendees. In fact, they said they would not use the highway if this were its route!

Alternatives at the western edge of the study area would have catastrophic impacts on existing development. That leaves only routes bisecting the center of the Lacombe watershed which will inevitably lead to even worse flooding than East St. Tammany already endures.

In fact, the obvious but rarely stated reason for both the project and a Bush-to-Lacombe route is development of east-central St. Tammany -- without any relationship to Parish or Regional planning and without any budget for connecting routes, drainage issues, and the other consequences. The perspective is "We'll deal with those later." This is exactly what led to the grid-lock sprawl conditions in Slidell and the Covington/Mandeville corridor!

Finally, there must be a federal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) completed before this project moves forward.

At this time, for these and other reasons, the Executive Committee of the Honey Island Group favors the "no build" alternative for this project. Click here to read the brief comment letter we submitted to LDOTD.

LDOTD's "project website" is i12tobush.com.

Resolved...
On June 25^th, 2002, the Executive Committee of the Honey Island Group adopted a resolution opposing the proposed Highway 3241 based on its contributions to urban sprawl, traffic congestion, and potential flooding; the lack of coordination with a regional plan; and the undemonstrated need for the highway. The Goup submitted this resolution to LDTOD for inclusion into the record of public comments.

Click here to read a copy of the resolution. (You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in to do this. Click here for more on that. If you have any problems downloading the resolution, click here to contact the Group webmaster.)

News Flash!
On July 31^st, 2002, Sierra Club national released Smart Choices, Less Traffic, A Critical Look at 49 Transportation Projects. It listed Highway 3241 as one of 28 worst transportation projects in the US!

Click here to read more about it.

Technically, LDOTD has not decided the location for a specific corridor. And, technically, it insists that not building remains an option. However, the reality is that it has already spent over $1-million on rights of way through central St. Tammany Parish.

The most direct path will be south-southwest from Bush through presently undeveloped wetlands to I-12. And, LDOTD doesn't know how much wetland will be affected. They guestimate 400 acres, based on aerial photography, but they don't know! And, this direct route will slash across the Bayou Lacomb watershed, affecting drainage for south-central and southeast St. Tammany.

What's more, LDTOD has not released any data justifying their presently 'preferred' route or explaining why the existing US11/LA41 corridor to the east isn't just as good -- or even better.

When?

Though this project has been proposed in one form or another for over twenty years, and funded for the past several, improper procedures forced it to be restarted, with an analysis study begun in January 2002.

This study will be completed over the next several months and will recommend a location for the highway. It may or not may not recommend an Environmental Impact Statement. Construction could begin as soon as early 2004!

Why?

This is the key question. At the recent public hearings soliciting public comment on the highway, these are the major arguments offered in favor, primarily by politicians from Washington Parish:

"The highway will stimulate economic growth in Washington Parish."

But... no one has submitted a feasibility study projecting this -- or, more importantly, a comprehensive plan as to how it will or can happen. Can a project of this size be justified for the potential benefit of a city of 13,000 (Bogalusa)? Has there been any plan for extending development beyond that? This is simply 'If you build it, they will come.' thinking.

"The highway will shorten the commute to New Orleans."

But... does reducing the drive time by, say, ten minutes for those few who commute those 40 to 60 miles to New Orleans warrant the impacts the highway will have on the tens of thousands who live in the area through which it will run?

"The allocated funds will be lost if they're not used."

But... more money must be spent in the future, both to connect the new highway and to mitigate its deleterious affects. And, no one is projecting from where this money will -- or even can -- come! We believe we must direct our limited resources to transportation methods that will benefit all of us well into the future, not just a few of us for a few years.

"The new highway will provide a hurricane evacuation route."

But... the overwhelming majority of evacuees will be traveling north on I-55 and I-59, not to Bush and Bogalusa!

"The highway will open east-cental St. Tammany for development."

This is probably the rarely-stated (because of the financial rewards that will be reaped by so few) but most honest argument for this project. But... there is a difference between inevitable but managed development and runaway unplanned development that leads only to traffic congestion, flooding, and sprawl. There has been no attempt to tie this proposed highway to any long-term comprehensive plan for St. Tammany!

Now is the time -- perhaps our only opportunity -- to direct this process in a way that protects our environment for our children.

"We're good people. We deserve it."

At the recent hearings, several Washington Parish politicians spoke at length (more than five times their allotted time) about how they felt disparaged by resistence to the project. Let's all agree that it's neither fair nor productive to argue this at a personal level. This project must either stand -- or not -- on its merits.

What can you do?

Let 'em hear from you!
State Senator John T. Schedler
State Representative Diane G. Winston
St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis
Parish Councilman Bruce Authement, District 5
Parish Councilman Gary Singletary, District 6
Parish Councilman Steve Stefancik, District 11
Click here for other Parish council members.

Make yourself heard any way you can. Contact your state and parish representatives (see box at right). Ask them to consider these points:

A clear and irrefutable demonstration of need;

Reasoned consideration of alternatives, such as existing corridors;

Drainage and water-quality issues related to Central and Eastern St. Tammany, not just the construction corridor;

Coordination with a comprehensive regional plan, such as that being developed right now by New Directions 2025;

An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

...before committing to any final decision.

What we seem to have here are two very different viewpoints and approaches to development: One that is piecemeal and results in sprawl, traffic congestion, and flooding; another that preserves as much of our present quality of life as possible; one that looks to the next couple of years, one that looks beyond.

As a community, we have to choose -- now -- which of these we will follow. Twenty years of momentum mean that delaying or avoiding this decision will keep in place the older way of development.

If you'd like to become more involved in this discussion, please click here and contact someone with the Honey Island Group.