I-49 Connector

I-49 Connector Comments

The I-49 Connector team unveiled further details on the design for elevating the current Evangeline Thruway that has split the Lafayette community for way too long. One of the most interesting concepts, and possibly the concept with the most potential to reunite the split currently created by the Evangeline Thruway, is the creation of the Evangeline Boulevard.

Unfortunately, the current design of the ground level streets in the I-49 connector through Lafayette approaches the street from strictly a vehicular passage rather than prioritizing other modes of urban transportation such as by foot, by bike or by bus. The plans in fact do not even line up with the typical sections proposed for the new Evangeline Boulevard. Although maybe an improvement from what is existing, this typical section is more expensive and less pedestrian and bicycle friendly than what I am about to suggest. Let’s not lose the opportunity to reconnect our community. What I am about to propose is better at re-stitching our urban fabric and probably much cheaper to construct than what is being proposed currently.

To learn more about what is currently proposed visit the I-49 connector website at: https://lafayetteconnector.com

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SO Studio’s suggested typical boulevard plan.

Roundabout Pros and Cons

 Roundabouts are often not the best option for the health of an urban fabric, especially if too many are lined up, creating a barrier both perceived and physical. Signaled intersections however come with their own problems but are more connected visually for pedestrians crossing. Traffic signals stop traffic to allow pedestrians to cross a roundabout, especially after people just exited a highway and will not stop for someone to cross. There should be signals for pedestrians to cross at these roundabouts and yield striping should be used going into the roundabout.

Roundabouts should be limited to only major cross streets and these streets should only have two lanes coming into them, not four or five (Johnston, Jefferson, Taft and possibly 2nd/3rd). Certainly, a slip lane on the Johnston Street roundabout is not appropriate for slowing traffic for pedestrians.

A roundabout may limit possible vehicular crashes but they also add time and distance for a pedestrian that often will discourage people from walking in the first place so these roundabouts should be designed for safety of pedestrians and cyclist and minimize pedestrian travel distances. Signals should be used at the 6th  and 12th intersections in order to create stops in traffic for pedestrians and bicyclists. Pedestrians and cyclists should even be signaled separate with 2-3 second start to get people out of vehicular blind spots in signaled intersections.

The dog bone roundabout proposed at 2nd could work if prioritizing cyclists and pedestrians and keeping a link in front of St. Genevieve Church.

Jefferson and Johnston should only have 2 travel lanes. Plans are in the works to “right-size” Johnston by the city with three lanes. Jefferson only has two lanes except at this point. The idea is that people are dispersed into the urban street grid rather than dumped onto only several highways encouraging multimodal transportation. Roundabouts are also much safer for motorists when only having one cross street as four lanes and the other two lanes.

For a better solution and explanation of how cyclists and pedestrians can be given preference watch the YouTube video on how they design in the Netherlands here:

Re-Stitch the Urban Fabric

The new design should connect 7th, 10th, 11th, and possibly 5th and 12th streets back to the Downtown and Freetown grids. It was sold to the community in the past that the elevated highway would allow for the re-stitching together of the urban fabric that was split by the current throughway. 5th street should also be connected back to the northbound Evangeline. All roads that connect back to downtown should not be cut off by the median on the boulevard. This urban grid disperses traffic rather than forcing them all on one street. If the grid is not healthy the fabric will further erode.

The most important connection that is being proposed to be cut is where Simcoe crosses Evangeline. This is a very important connection between La Place and Sterling Grove neighborhoods. Vehicular traffic is needed or major mitigation should be provided with significant bike and pedestrian routes that feel and are safe. Simcoe Street connection is necessary for the health of both the La Place and Sterling Grove neighborhoods.

Keep Magnolia street connection to the northbound lanes. This could be closed to vehicular traffic but open to pedestrian and bike traffic using bollards - often referred to as filtered permeability. This can be done by simply adding bollards or planters. Goldman and Hudson should also continue to be connected under (super blocks create dead zones and keep bike and pedestrians from crossing) at the very least bollard existing connections for pedestrian and bike creating this filtered permeability.

Turn lanes on Evangeline Boulevard should be sparing. The current design is over-designed and very expensive. Too many turn lanes also make it harder and more uncomfortable for pedestrians to cross. The current traffic will be much reduced from the elevated highway and local traffic will be dispersed into the grid better especially with the northbound being rebuilt to two-way traffic therefore turning lanes will not need to be used nearly as much.

Slip lanes should be avoided in the corridor especially from Beaver Park to Castille Street which are currently areas with pedestrian and cyclist connections. These slip lanes not only cost more money but they speed up traffic by creating a larger turning radius and are very uncomfortable to cross for pedestrians. They also take up too much real-estate which is needed for redevelopment opportunities. Slip lane real estate can also be used for protected bike lanes five to six inches above the roadbed (much cheaper to design too!) A separate bike lane that swings out to this location would also be better because it gets the cyclist out of car blind spots coming out of the intersection. Corridor from Beaver Park to Castille should be designed with a multi model approach.

Willow, Pinhook, University and Kaliste Saloom should have a maximum of one turn lane left bound and maybe one right (with no right turns on red). Designing for more traffic will get you more traffic. Leave the space for other modes of transportation under the new highway.

Northbound Evangeline restored to original termination at St. Genevieve church in the current design is great but one design cuts it off again in front of the church. Signaled alternative works much better in this location to stitch back together urban fabric in front of St. Genevieve. If the double roundabout is used, this area should at the very least have access for cyclists and pedestrians back to the intersection.

 Guidry Street needs pedestrian and bicycle connection across Pinhook. Many people cross between these neighborhoods. With people coming off of exit at faster speeds mitigation should be provided.

Plantation Road should connect through University for access to Beaver Park with pedestrian and bike and vehicular traffic.

Castille and MLK connection needs bike and pedestrian signals with so many people already trying to cross between these neighborhoods.

16th street needs to keep at least bike and pedestrian connection under the highway. These neighborhoods have many people currently trying to cross on bike or foot with very high-speed traffic exiting from the current interstates.

Re-Development Possibilities

Noise mitigation measures should be taken to protect current homes and allow for redevelopment of mixed-use buildings in the areas proposed by the current plans. These mitigation measures should be considered sooner than later in the design process.

Our proposal for a narrower right-of-way needed for the new Boulevard would allow 18 feet more for redevelopment between the boulevard and the elevated highway.

Design for transit islands in the median. Bus only lanes possible (bus rapid transit), Future light rail from Airport to Downtown and University may be a consideration. Bus stops should be considered especially if wanting to redevelop areas with retail and mixed-use buildings. The proposed typical section here shows possible areas for bus shelters.

My hope is that these suggestions will improve our community by reconnecting our community and allowing for redevelopment possibilities that will further create the quality of life that we all strive to have in Lafayette.

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Images of the two current proposed plan options.

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Current proposed typical boulevard section.

God is in the Details

The name change from Evangeline Thruway to Evangeline Boulevard is a big deal and should be used as a way to design the details to make that change reality and not just a change in a name. First, slow traffic down and save money on the new Evangeline boulevard by making lanes 10 feet wide, not 11 feet plus 1.5 feet of gutter (12.5 feet!!). Camellia Boulevard is a great example of how wide lanes get faster traffic than the posted speed where almost no motorist follows the posted speed limit. Further slow traffic by planting a row of trees against the back of curb. This gives motorists a subliminal cue of speed through the repetitive object in their peripheral vision. This also separates cyclists and pedestrians from car traffic (see our suggested typical section and plan). This also makes it much nicer as a pedestrian or cyclist with shade in our hot climate.

Priority to bike and pedestrian crossings should be given between Pinhook and the railroad spur crossing. This can best be shown also through the pavement colors and textures for these modes of transportation. Painted bike gutters are proposed in the typical section of the boulevard. These are expensive and uncomfortable for cyclists. The cost of building to vehicular standards in the roadbed is much greater than a separate bike facility that does not need to be designed to hold up vehicular traffic like the wide gutters do. We should start designing our streets so that a ten-year-old will feel comfortable riding their bike on them. (See suggested typical section and plan)

In the current design, super blocks are created by the median shown on the new Evangeline Boulevard; 600 to 900 feet to go around. This is like walking across three football fields to cross! This erosion of the grid will cause more urban decay and should be avoided. If the street is closed to vehicles from crossing then a filtered permeability for pedestrians should be used. One suggestion would be to create small wood boardwalks over the planted rainwater garden in the median. (See suggested typical section and plan)

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SO Studio’s suggested typical boulevard section.

The Value of a Mid-Century Home

Everyone knows at least one person who has pulled out beautiful mid-twentieth century porcelain bathroom tiles or painted brick whose color they thought was passé! Why? To replace it with cheap ceramic tiles found at a big box home improvement store or, finding themselves having to pay to repaint their exterior walls every ten years after it never had even one coat of paint for over sixty years! Leaving original finishes in a vintage building and leaning into its pallet by changing other things such as paint color or even furniture or towels is much more valuable both today and tomorrow as the home transitions from vintage to historic.

We may be known for contemporary architecture at SO Studio but just as we love buildings of their time and place, we love historic preservation projects. SO Studio has restored buildings from colonial Lousiana buildings such as the new visitors center in Carencro to mid-twentieth century buildings. We’ve even rehabilitated Victorian turn-of-the-twentieth-century buildings to roaring nineteen twenties Arts and Crafts buildings. The most misunderstood and undervalued of these by far are the mid-twentieth century ones. Recently SO Studio finished restoring a 1958 home in Bendel Gardens on the Vermilion River that is featured in the latest issue of Lousiana Life Magazine, the Sonnier Residence.

Although the house needed major restoration such as correcting the smiling, leaking asbestos roof and the sagging ceilings, many of the defining mid-century features were not only saved but in many cases restored and celebrated. These features of the house are important in historic preservation because they were so evocative of the era. Open floor plans with kitchens and bathrooms packed with bells and whistles were so typical of the time. This was new and innovative in post world war America. Unfortunately many people who buy or inherited a mid-twentieth-century home go right for changing the features that defined the period the most; the brick veneer and the embellished, yet highly practical, bathrooms and kitchens.

Four-inch by four-inch square porcelain tiles were so popular in the early modern era yet so many people seem to ditch the expensive porcelain tile for cheap ceramic tile they can get at the big box hardware store. In our Bendel restoration, we not only saved the original pink tile but our client spent considerable time and money searching out the closest match to replace a wall that had been retiled at some point in white. To better balance the pink we selected a wallpaper that felt 1950’s yet new and contrasted with the pink; with a navy background and green palm leaves. In the black and yellow tile bathroom, we simply leaned further into it by painting all of the walls, ceiling, and trim black.

As for the kitchen, minor changes were made to the cabinets to fit today’s appliances but other than this and replacing the countertops which had worn, the original cabinets were refinished on the faces and the pulls and features like the foil and paper towel dispensers were polished and shined.

Wood paneling and accented brick or stone walls with large wood-burning fireplaces were also very typical of the atomic age. In the Sonnier residence, we see all of the above, topped out with the original terrazzo floor topping which we restored and repaired. Rather than painting brick white which some may have thought not the right color, we painted the soffits and facia bronze to bring out a better color in the brick.

So what did we change from the original house you may be asking? The shag carpet that was past its lifespan was replaced with more allergy-friendly wood floors. Aged wallpaper was replaced with new wallpaper. Now, out-of-code aluminum sliding windows and doors were replaced with closely matching aluminum sliding windows and doors that are energy-efficient, better functioning, and meet today’s wind codes. The budget was not spent to replace a whole kitchen and bath but rather on updates to energy-efficient plumbing fixtures (not the original tubs and sinks), replacing the failing roof and windows, painting, and just plain restoring original features to their former glory. We like the way this approach came out and we hope you do too!

Parklets in the age of COVID-19

Outdoor activities and outdoor dining have been on our minds more than ever since March of 2020. One of the easiest ways to adapt cities to be more outdoor-friendly is the implementation of parklets. What are parklets? According to the National Association of City Transportation Officials, parklets are “public seating platforms that convert curbside parking spaces into vibrant community spaces” and are usually a “partnership between cities and local businesses, residents or neighborhood associations.”

*SO Studio would like to dedicate this blog post to Stephen Joseph Oats.

SO Studio was lucky enough to have designed one of Lafayette’s first parklets well before COVID was even a thought in our minds. We dubbed it Parc Banquette as a double entendre of a banquette in Louisiana French meaning sidewalk and a banquette is also a kind of booth seating that we designed into the project. What did we learn from this parklet? Well, it certainly is an affordable and quick way to encourage activity on the street. Since the parklet was installed, we have seen people taking selfies on it, eating lunch, and even playing a traditional Cajun tune on the fiddle (it is in front of Sola violins after all).

The parklet was sponsored by Oats and Marino, a law firm in the old Gordon hotel building. SO Studio designed it as a public space. Integrated into the design is seating, tables both small and tall, plantings, and even a lounge chair to perch upon for great people watching. The main structure is clad in a composite teak wood that runs perpendicular to the sidewalk. Woven into this cladding are vibrant blue ribbons of steel plates that create side tables to rest a cup of coffee or an arm upon and signage for the parklet.

Another lesson learned is that if we provide a space for gathering, people will gather. Which is what we want downtown, right? Our downtowns are certainly a place for culture and exchange. They are supposed to be a meeting place where communities come together.

Parklets are also excellent for outdoor dining, something that is needed for our great restaurants to survive these days but also something that activates our streets and makes them a cool and safe place to hang out. Here in Lafayette, Central Pizza, and Hideaway on Lee each have one and, we are currently helping Tsunami to build one. A UL Lafayette interior design class recently conducted a study on the parklet that will be located in front of Tsunami.

My one critique on parklets thus far is the question of how can we make them both more permanent and better integrated into the streetscape? I'm sure that with time we will learn how to best accomplish this. In the meantime, they will serve as an extension of the sidewalk; outdoor dining spaces, and public mini-parks that everyone can better enjoy their downtown!