‘Bikeway Blueprint’
Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration, in following the City Council’s ‘Complete Streets’ ordinance of 2011 and the its resolution in support of the administration’s transportation plans, proposes an interconnected network of “shared bike lanes” to the more intrusive “protected bike lanes,” like what we’re seeing on MacArthur Boulevard.
As Gen. Meyer Avenue is a state highway, Louisiana 428, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is charged with the “Complete Streets” conversion. The LaDOTD will follow the city’s lead on Gen. Meyer Avenue’s conversion. According to the city, Gen. Meyer Avenue will have “protected bike lanes,” presumably meaning that the 4-lane roadway could be reduced to two lanes.
Gen. Meyer becomes Newton Street at Behrman Avenue, and Newton already has been converted, much of it having a protected bike lane along the river-bound lane.
Bike lanes also are proposed for the Woodland Bridge – a protected bike lane on the side going to English Turn and a shared bike lane on the side going away from English Turn. With the state planning to replace the Belle Chasse bridge and tunnel on Louisiana Highway 23, and then charge motorists tolls to cross it, the Woodland Bridge and Gen. de Gaulle no doubt will see an increase in motor vehicle traffic. So it makes little sense for the Cantrell administration to continue eliminating motor vehicle lanes in Algiers.
We don’t yet know the city’s timeline for these proposed bike lane projects.
In 2020, the city published an interactive map, through which you can explore the city’s proposals. Many of us Algiers residents were unaware of the details until it was too late. Educate yourself. Click here to see that map.
The Department of Public Works also has a web page that provides descriptions of the various bike lane designs. Click here to see that page.
Click here to view the above map on the city’s Office of Transportation website.
A closer look at the above map.