Hooper Rd. Bridge Part of Kinder, Gentler Loop

Legislators Work To Create ‘Loop’ Linking Central, Watson, Walker

by Woody Jenkins, editor

CENTRAL — In 1997, a band of four state legislators led by the late Rep. Donald Ray Kennard passed House Resolution 75, requesting the Louisiana Dept. of Transportation and Development to study the feasibility of extending Hooper Road across the Amite to Watson.  Today, nearly 16 years later, the bridge has not yet been built but Central legislators are continuing to push the project.  Now the DOTD has weighed in to explain the need for the project.

At the same time, Rep. Valarie Hodges says the Hooper Road Bridge is key to creating a “loop” that would connect Central with Watson, Walker, and I-12 without the negatives associated with the Baton Rouge Loop proposed by Mayor-President Kip Holden.

Hodges and Sens. Bodi White and Dale Erdey are pushing the Hooper Road Bridge project forward.  The proposed “loop” would be created by connecting and widening existing highways without the necessity of expropriating homes or disrupting communities, Hodges said.

Actually, two “loops” would be created by the projects.

The Central-Livingston Parish loop would begin at Hooper and Sullivan roads.  Hooper would be four-laned to Greenwell Springs Road and continue eastward across the Amite River.  On the Livingston Parish side of the river, there are a couple of alternatives.  One of them would connect to Hwy. 1019 in Watson and continue eastward.

At Hwy. 447, the “loop” would go south to Walker and then connect to I-12.  At I-12, it would head west back across the Amite River and then turn north at O’Neal Lane and continue on the Central Thruway.  The road would merge into Sullivan Road, which would be widened to four lanes, and continue on to Hooper and the beginning point.

The second “loop” would begin at I-110 at Harding Boulevard, continue eastward to Hooper at Sullivan and follow the route of the first loop.  When it got to I-12 at O’Neal, it would continue west onto I-10 and then north onto I-110 and back to the starting point.

In 2000, DOTD issued a report on the feasibility of building the bridge over the Amite at Hooper.  Since then, the growing population of Livingston Parish, especially the Watson area, has heightened the need for the bridge.

The DOTD website, www.dotd.la.gov, features the Hooper Road Bridge on its homepage.  DOTD’s environmental assessment of the project says this:

“The purpose of this project is to improve traffic operations in the northeast Baton Rouge Region, particularly for commuter traffic accessing the downtown and in-town areas of Baton Rouge from the project area.”

“The need for this project is three-fold:

• Rapid growth occurring in the City of Central, LA, and Livingston Parish, LA has led to heavy traffic volumes that correspond to such growth. Livingston Parish was the fastest growing parish in the state of Louisiana during the period of 2000-2010 with a growth rate upward of about 40 percent. While this phenomenal rate may not be repeated, projected population growth is estimated to be about 21 percent between 2009 and 2032.

• Most traffic volumes consist of commuter traffic to and from Baton Rouge. The extension of Hooper Road, along with the already planned widening of that road in East Baton Rouge Parish, will create a new four-lane artery for commuters who live in the City of Central and Livingston Parish and work in East Baton Rouge Parish.

• This new east-west connection is anticipated to relieve congestion not only on the Magnolia Bridge (which is the next closest crossing of the Amite River) but also on other east-west arteries, such as Florida Blvd (US 190) and I-12.”

“If left unimproved, existing congestion and access problems can be expected to increase due to the continued growth. It is also important to enhance the overall transportation system to provide roadway network continuity, sufficient roadway access, mobility, and capacity improvements to meet future traffic demand. Roadway safety is also a priority.”

The DOTD assessment points out that the Hooper Road Bridge is still unfunded.  But Rep. Hodges and Sens. White and Erdey will be working on that in the upcoming legislative session.

If they are successful, the legislators who initiated the project back in 1997 would be proud. Besides Rep. Kennard, the others were Reps. Tony Perkins and Clo Fontenot and Sen. Mike Branch.