Say NO to the proposed Baton Rouge Loop

This petition is in support of the City of Central Council's resolution to say "NO" to the proposed Baton Rouge Loop. The Federal Highway Administration has asked for public comment regarding the Loop project by Jan. 29th, and it is critical that the City of Central send them a message regarding how we feel. We MUST make it known--in writing--that there is opposition to the proposed Loop project in Central so that the argument cannot be made that the majority of the citizens of the City of Central are in favor of the project. Many in favor of the Loop and even the engineers involved in the project have stated that the majority of Central supports the Loop--WE MUST SHOW THEM OTHERWISE!!! There is absolutely NO way our Council can take the stance that Central is in favor of the Loop if we stand up and make our voices heard. If our Council doesn't adopt a "stance" at all then the FHA will assume that we are in support of the project, or that we don't care either way, and they could approve the project moving forward. Once they approve the project it will be completed because the federal funding will be allocated and there will be nothing else to stop the Capital Area Expressway Authority from moving forward. This is our ONE chance to stop it NOW!!!

I agree there are traffic problems in Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas, but I do not believe the proposed loop is the solution. I would like to see objective studies done--not about any particular project, but in general--to see what the best long term solutions will be. I do not like that we are being told that the loop as proposed is our only option, and I believe the CAEA is taking advantage of people's frustration over the horrendous traffic congestion we deal with every day and touting their "public-private partnership" as the answer to all of our problems. If a loop was truly the answer and the best solution it would not have already been defeated twice and rejected by LA DOTD and the Governor's office.