This morning I joined Mayor-President Kip Holden, Councilman Chandler Loupe and others to officially break ground on the Siegen Lane improvements. This project will widen Siegen Lane between Perkins and Highland to four lanes with a raised median and sidewalks on both sides, improving traffic flow in a heavily congested area and creating a safer route for you and your family.

This is the next in a long list of Green Light Plan projects that are under construction around the Parish to get traffic F-L-O-W-I-N-G. The voters of East Baton Rouge asked for traffic relief and that’s exactly what we’re delivering. Promises made, promises kept!

Earlier today I was privileged to join Mayor-President Kip Holden, my fellow Council members Bones Addison, Donna Collins-Lewis, Ronnie Edwards and Tara Wicker, and business and civic leaders to break ground on the River Park Development underpass.

This important first step will open up 36 acres of downtown Baton Rouge for new development. The plans call for a mixed-use development that will include hotels, residential apartments and condos, neighborhood retail, a destination restaurant and an entertainment complex. Over 3,000 jobs will eventually be created and the first ten years will have an economic impact of more than $126 million in new earnings and $103 million in new local tax collections!

Today was an exciting day for Baton Rouge and another step in building America’s next great city! You can see a video from the groundbreaking below:

Today I was honored to help break ground on the improvements to Forest Park on S. Harrell’s Ferry Rd. These improvements will greatly improve Forest Park, one of our community’s oldest recreation centers.

When construction is completed, we will have re-defined vehicular and pedestrian circulation through the park, improved baseball and softball fields and an improved playground. The improvements will also relocate the existing dog park and add a fishing pond, three new tennis courts and jogging and walking trails.

These are fantastic improvements that will make this park even more special for those who live in southeast Baton Rouge. You can see a video from the groundbreaking below:

Today Mayor-President Kip Holden, Councilwoman Denise Marcelle, Councilwoman Tara Wicker and others broke ground on the intersection improvements at S. Foster and Government. This is the 15th Green Light Plan Project to enter the construction phase!

When completed, this project will add left-turn lanes in all directions, push-button pedestrian crosswalks and traffic signal upgrades. It will provide much-needed relief for one of Baton Rouge’s busiest intersections. The citizens of Baton Rouge asked us to get traffic moving, and that’s exactly what we’re doing!

Below is a video with highlights from today’s ceremony:

Today, Mayor-President Kip Holden, Councilman Scott Wilson and others broke ground on two bridges as part of the Central Thruway Phase I project. This is another important step in completing the Central Thruway, which will create a greatly improved north-south connection for our parish, an important evacuation route and provide Central residents with increased connectivity to other parts of Baton Rouge.

You can see a video from today’s ceremony below in addition to a map of the project:

On Wednesday I had an opportunity to sign the final paperwork authorizing the sale of $165 million in bonds. These funds will be used to pay for design, engineering and construction of fifteen improvement projects that will bring our sewer into the 21st century. This is an exciting time for Baton Rouge!

Earlier this week Mayor-President Kip Holden, Councilman Chandler Loupe and others broke ground on the South Wastewater Treatment Plant improvements. These much-needed improvements are the first of three phases of improvements that will result in increased reliability, improved processed wastewater quality and they will allow us to meet our regulatory requirements.

You can watch a clip from the groundbreaking below:

A couple of Thursdays ago, I had the honor of speaking to two local Baton Rouge Republican groups. In the morning I met with the East Baton Rouge Parish Republican Women, and updated them on all of the exciting things going on in the Parish. I’m honored to count this tremendous group of ladies among my supporters, but more importantly I’m honored to call them my friends.

Later that evening I spoke at the monthly meeting of The Pachyderms of Greater Baton Rouge. We enjoyed great food, great company and great conversation. It is a terrific group of young Republicans dedicated to building a better party, and I was happy to accept their invitation.

This morning I had the honor of cutting the ribbon at the new Oaks at Sherwood Golf Course. This new and improved public/private course, which sits on the site of the old Sherwood Forest Country Club, looks spectacular. It has a newly remodeled restaurant and lounge, media and board rooms and a new and improved pro shop.

Plus, they have swimming and tennis. It’s a great atmosphere for young and old alike. I hope you’ll take the opportunity to check them out. You can visit them on the web at: http://theoaksatsherwood.com

This is what we call a recession buster, ladies and gentlemen. A YouTube video from the event is below:

You can watch the Council Roundup from this week’s Metro Council meeting below, including an explanation from me regarding what happened to the agenda item that would rezone two lots in East Sherwood Forest Subdivision.

Last night the Library Board unanimously approved allocating $4.5 million to fund the new Fairwood Branch on Old Hammond Highway. Next, the Metro Council will take up the issue for final approval.

This project is near and dear to me, and I’ll be doing everything I can to help keep us moving on schedule. Also, I’d like to thank the members of the Library Board for voting to fund this very important addition to District 8.

Last Friday I had a chance to join Mayor-President Kip Holden and others to cut the ribbon on the brand new intersection at Coursey & Sherwood. It’s hard to believe we just broke ground on this project four short months ago, but the construction crews worked night and day and came in over 2 months ahead of schedule!

This new intersection at one of the busiest traffic hotspots in Baton Rouge has already improved traffic along Coursey and Sherwood. As part of the improvements, we’ve added two new through lanes, two left turn lanes and right turn lanes in all directions.

The voters asked for us to get traffic moving, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. This project marks the fifth Green Light Plan project to be completed!

Promises made, promises kept.

Earlier this week Mayor-President Kip Holden and others cut the ribbon on the Burbank Dr. Segment 1 Green Light Plan project. Together with Segment 2, the capacity of Burbank Dr. has been doubled!

This is the fourth Green Light Plan project to be completed. The voters asked us to get traffic F-L-O-W-I-N-G and that’s exactly what we’re doing!

East Baton Rouge and Central officials released the following joint statement:

March 31, 2009

For release: IMMEDIATELY
For more information contact: Rannah Gray, 225.205.3735 or Rannah@cox.net

Central Officials Announce Plans to Work to Find Acceptable Loop Route

Officials from Central met yesterday with City-Parish officials and the Baton Rouge Loop project team and have announced their support for the Loop if the route for the Northern Bypass is acceptable to the Central community.

Project team leaders added that they are confident an acceptable route will be found and applauded the cooperation from those involved.

Attending the meeting were Central Mayor Mac Watts and his Executive Assistant David Barrow; State Representative Clif Richardson whose District 65 includes the Central area; Mayor Kip Holden’s Chief Administrative Officer Mike Futrell; Mayoral Advisor Walter Monsour; Central Planning & Zoning Commission Committee Members Rodney Bonvillain and Wade Giles; Central City Council members Louis DeJohn and Lucky Ross; East Baton Rouge Metro Council Member Scott Wilson; Central resident Graydon Walker who sits on the BR Loop Stakeholders Committee, and BR Loop project team members Mike Bruce and Craig Gardner.

“I’m very pleased that we can move forward together,” said Mayor Holden. “This project is critical to solving traffic congestion throughout our parish and we should be working together to keep this important project on schedule. I appreciate the time and cooperation of the Central officials.”

Mayor Holden’s Chief Administrative Officer Mike Futrell reiterated the intent to work together to move the Loop project forward. “We are committed to holding one or more public meetings in the Central community during this phase of the project to keep this project moving.”

Futrell said that moving forward, leaders from the City of Central area will have a prominent seat at the table in the process of determining the route through Central.

In addition, regular meetings between the Loop team and leaders from the City of Central will be held.

Representative Richardson, who represents the Central area said, “I appreciate the opportunity to participate in this process and look forward to finding a consensus route.”

Central Mayor Watts added, “We support the Loop as long as we can agree on a route acceptable to the people of Central.”

Mike Bruce, a principal on the Loop project said the use of land around the new loop, such as zoning, access, feeder roads and other issues that affect the Central area will be decided by the people of Central during a land use planning aspect of the current phase.

He added that the financial model for funding the loop appears viable, especially for the Northern Bypass of the loop where tolls could produce a great majority of the construction costs.

Bruce said that historically, toll roads similar to the Baton Rouge Loop have also generated revenues for improvement and widening of local feeder roads.

The Loop will provide multiple access points in the Central area and will not cut off existing routes.

Mayor Holden’s office released the following News Advisory:

NEWS ADVISORY

Statement from Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden and Mayor Pro-Tempore Mike Walker

Mayor-President Melvin L. “Kip” Holden:

I am working closely with my administration and Mayor Pro-Tempore Mike Walker to assure everything is in place for a full and speedy recovery from this severe weather event. We have signed an emergency declaration and I have spoken with state officials and have been assured we have their full cooperation and will be provided any resources needed.

DPW is working with Entergy to make sure they have everything they need to restore power as quickly as possible. We are also working to put emergency contracts in place for debris removal so we can get the affected neighborhoods cleaned up quickly.

We have been told by the weather service that we could have other storm activity, so it is important for everyone to be careful and make sure you have adequate emergency supplies for the potential disruption of power. We will be providing the public with more updates as information becomes available.

Mayor Pro-Tempore Mike Walker:

I am at the Mayor’s Office and have been speaking with the Mayor all morning to assure the appropriate declarations are signed without any delay.

The administration has my full support to expedite any actions in the Mayor’s absence to keep things moving smoothly.

Various city-parish departments have been on the ground since early morning working to restore the affected neighborhoods as quickly as possible and I will remain available to help in any way until the Mayor’s returns to Baton Rouge this evening.

I would also like to encourage everyone to be very careful around down power lines and to exercise caution when driving in the affected areas. Unless you live in the neighborhoods affected, please avoid these areas so that our city-parish workers and Entergy can get the areas cleaned up and power restored as soon as possible.

You can watch the “Council Roundup” from last night’s Metro Council meeting below:

You can download a copy of the agenda for tomorrow afternoon’s meeting by clicking here.

The Council meeting begins at 4pm, and you can watch it live on Cox channel 21 or on-line here. You can also get real-time updates beginning at 4pm from Twitter.

As part of my continuing efforts to make local government more transparent and accessible to the citizens we serve, I’m proud to introduce our latest effort, the “Council Roundup.” Within hours of each Metro Council meeting, I will post a short video that citizens can watch highlighting some of the issues the Council addressed as well as comments from the key players involved.

The first ever “Council Roundup” from last night’s Metro Council meeting is below:

This morning I had a chance to stop by the 2009 Louisiana Federation of Republican Women Convention and welcome them to Baton Rouge. The Republican Women group is near and dear to my heart as they have always supported me and helped me along. But even more than that, these outstanding women give so much back to their communities in the way of volunteer work. We’re lucky to have such a terrific group here in Louisiana, and it was my pleasure to help them open up their convention.

Construction crews have been busy improving the intersection of Coursey and South Sherwood Forest since we broke ground in January. I’m happy to say that we’re running ahead of schedule. As a result, the construction company is going to try and wrap this project up in the next few weeks.

What this will mean to you is that starting this weekend (March 7 & 8) and continuing for the next two weekends (March 14 & 15 and 21 & 22), traffic will be reduced to ONE lane in all directions. This will NOT affect weekday travel as two lanes in all directions will remain open. This only applies to Saturday and Sunday.

This is one of the busiest intersections in town, and when this project is complete it’s going to get traffic FLOWING. I can’t wait to cut the ribbon!

Today I had the honor of joining Mayor-President Kip Holden and others to cut the ribbon on the North Harrell’s Ferry Road improvements. This is the third Green Light Plan project to be completed, and we did it for less money in less time than originally projected!

This project has significantly upgraded a vital link between Sherwood Forest Blvd. and Old Hammond Highway, making it a safer road to travel for residents in our community. You can see a picture from the ceremony below as well as a video with highlights and interviews from key people involved.

This past Thursday I had the honor of joining several of our civic and community leaders to cut the ribbon on the Just for Kids Dental Clinic. This private company located in the Delmont Village Shopping Center will be providing free dental services for children in the community!

L to R: Sen. Sharon Weston Broome, Rep. Regina Barrow, Councilwoman Tara Wicker, School Board Member Jill Dyason, Councilman Mike Walker, Dr. Levy, Councilwoman Denise Marcelle, Rep. Pat Smith, Assistant CAO of Baton Rouge Irma Plummer and School Board Member Darryl Robertson.

This morning I joined Mayor-President Kip Holden and others to break ground on the 13th Green Light Plan project — the Picardy Ave. extension. Although this project is only 1/2 mile long, it is vital to helping alleviate the traffic woes here in Baton Rouge.

When this project is completed, you will be able to drive on Picardy Ave. from Bluebonnet to Essen — a vital link connecting Our Lady of the Lake and Baton Rouge General. Additionally, the new road will have a two-lane curb and gutter with subsurface drainage, as well as sidewalks for those living in neighboring subdivisions.

You can see a picture from the groundbreaking as well as a map of the proposed roadway below.

The following is an important scam alert from the St. George Fire Protection District PIO:

I’ve been notified by the president of the St. George Professional Firefighters Association that someone or group of persons is making telephone solicitations supposedly on behalf of the firefighters of East Baton Rouge Parish. Neither St. George nor the Baton Rouge Fire Department solicits funds by telephone. The employee organizations of both departments raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in their annual Shake the Boot for MDA campaigns, however, they do not do so on the telephone. Should you receive such a call and can ID the caller, please call the police with that information.

Folks if you receive a call from anyone soliciting donations on behalf of the firefighters in East Baton Rouge DO NOT give out any personal information. And if you can identify the number from which they called, write it down and immediately contact the Baton Rouge Police or East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office. Numbers for both are below:

Police Department: 389-3800
Sheriff’s Office: 389-5000

Today we broke ground on the 12th Green Light Plan project right here in Southeast Baton Rouge. This project will widen Jones Creek Rd., between Coursey Blvd. and S. Harrell’s Ferry Rd., to four-lanes with a raised median and sidewalks. It will also replace the bridge over Jones Creek.

This is fantastic news for the residents in Southeast Baton Rouge who drive this road everyday, and I was privileged to be a part of the team that helped move this project forward.

You can see a picture from today’s event as well as a map of the roadway below.