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 Dear Citizens of Baton Rouge,
During my first few months in office, I have seen how frustrated
people in East Baton Rouge Parish are over traffic. At various
community meetings, my staff and I have heard numerous concerns over
issues such as safety, congestion, road maintenance and landscaping.
We have conducted an open process to create a comprehensive traffic
plan that includes input from traffic engineers who donated their
services at a two-day City-Parish Traffic Summit; Department of
Public Works engineers; Metro Council members and concerned citizens
who attended community meetings in each council district. From all
of this information, we created the Green Light Traffic Plan, to use
the existing “pot-hole tax” revenue to make obvious connections
between existing streets and create alternate routes that will help
get traffic flowing safely throughout our parish.
The following table illustrates how our plan would spend the funds
generated by the renewal of the “pot-hole tax.”
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Funds Dedicated to New Construction,
Widening & Intersection Improvements |
Funds Dedicated to Road Rehabilitation |
Funds Dedicated
to Beautification & Landscaping Maintenance |
| Green Light Traffic Plan |
70% |
27% |
3% |
| Current "Pot-hole Tax" Plan |
60% |
40% |
0% |
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Anyone in the construction business can tell you that the price of
materials, such as concrete and steel, have increased dramatically
over the past few years – at a rate much faster than inflation.
Locally, the cost of the Central Thruway escalated by more than $7
million dollars since it was first proposed and the North Boulevard
project has increased by $4 million. To combat these rising costs,
we are proposing to extend the so-called “pot-hole tax” for 25 years
so that we will can bond out the 70 percent of the funds dedicated
for new road construction. This will help us start projects sooner
and save tax dollars in the process. (A more detailed explanation of
the past and current programs can be found here.)
The final list of projects that would be completed under this
proposition is posted on this website. If the plan is approved, this
project list cannot be changed in any way without a vote of the
people. Please take some time to look through it and learn more
about our plans for the Parish. If you have any questions, please
contact our office or plan to attend one of the community meetings
that will be posted on our website in the next few weeks.
Sincerely,
Melvin L. “Kip” Holden
Mayor-President
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