Courtesy of CARBO Landscape Architecture
Renderings of the proposed Urban Trail through the Perkins Underpass Merchants District
Historically, the implementation of the interstate highway system in cities across America has come with the inevitable disruption of communities and neighborhoods. According to estimates from the U.S. Department of Transportation, over 475,000 households and over a million people were displaced nationwide due to the federal roadway construction that took place from the 1950s to the 1970s. Besides the demolition the projects required, the unwieldy highways also tend to be an eyesore, darkening the landscape and lowering property values in the areas they run through.
In Baton Rouge, the establishment of Interstate-10 in the 1950s and ‘60s particularly impacted predominately African American communities like Old South Baton Rouge and Valley Park—both of which were divided in half to make way for the highway.
Over half a century later, as the city braces itself for another round of such disruptions posed by the Department of Transportation and Development’s I-10 Widening Project, which is set to start construction as early as February 2023—a neighborhood in the expansion’s path is asking the city to recognize its significance as a cultural center worth protecting, and to invest in a $2.5 million revitalization project while they’re at it.
The Perkins Road Underpass Merchants District—with its funky collective of locally-owned restaurants, small businesses, and nightlife—thrives as a rare example of a neighborhood that has developed directly around the presence of the interstate. Beneath the concrete goliath of I-10 and its decidedly un-classical columns, these businesses have—for decades—fostered a wildly popular counter-culture entertainment hub in Baton Rouge. On Saturday nights, the district’s pot-holed and unmarked parking spots beneath the overpass are some of the most hotly contested in town.
[Read these stories from the archive about the value of the Perkins Underpass Merchants District: A Foodie Mecca in Baton Rouge and A Date with Progressive Perkins ]
On March 15, a group of business owners from the Underpass neighborhood publicly presented plans for the much-anticipated Perkins Underpass Revitalization Project—a proposal that envisions an elevated ADA-accessible urban trail running from Reymond Avenue eventually to the Acadian Thruway, with phase one ending at Christian Street.
The concept has been in the works for over two years now, explained Misti Broussard, who owns BLDG 5 with her husband, Brumby. The Broussards are leaders in the initiative, along with owner of Varsity Sports Jenni Peters, Al Moreau of Moreau Physical Therapy, and Chad Hughes of Ivar’s Sports Bar & Grill and the forthcoming Unleaded BBQ.
Misti noted that of the four businesses involved, hers is the only one directly on the proposed path. “I think that speaks volumes to why we’re all interested in this,” she said. “We want this path as residents. We think this is something our city deserves.”
After raising $40,000 to fund surveys of the area and the development of a conceptual Master Plan created by CARBO Landscape Architecture, the group is now turning to the Metro Council to give the project, projected to cost $2.5 million, the green light.
According to the Master Plan, the multi-use path would include features like designated bike trails, native plantings, lighting installations, and improved parking conditions—all integrated with local art that interacts directly with the overpass instead of despite it.
“This is a quality of life project,” said Shannon Blakeman of CARBO. “There is no problem of trying to get people here. How can we create better connectivity? How can we make a safer place for bicycles and pedestrians?”
[Read these stories about Perkins Underpass Restaurants: The Overpass Merchant, Kalurah Street Grill, BLDG5, Magpie Café ]
Jeffrey Carbo of CARBO also emphasized the opportunity for this project to serve as a springboard for innovations in stormwater management. “It’s not only that we want to create a path,” he said. “We want to be good stewards.”
The next step towards council approval and initial funding, explained City-Parish Transportation and Drainage Director Fred Raiford, is securing cooperation with the railroad—which the path would need to interact with. Though that process could take months, he said that he has already begun working with the railroad and has been in conversation with the Mayor about the proposal. “We are committed to this project,” he said. “It meets all the aspects of what we’re trying to accomplish in our community.”
Though the overall impacts of DOTD’s I-10 Widening Project on the Underpass community are yet to determined, pushing this initiative is a demonstration of the neighborhood’s value to Baton Rouge as a whole and raises the stakes for its ultimate preservation and development.
“We’ve been talking about this for a long time,” said Misti. “We’ve never seen so much excitement. People literally walk in our door here [at BLDG 5] and say, ‘I’ve heard about this … here’s $20. How can I help?” She said that the group has also been approached by corporations and donors interested in sponsoring the developments, but first “we need the city to take ownership. This is something the city should be taking responsibility for, and getting the green light, and getting it started.”
See the plans, and updates on developments, at underpassproject.org.
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