A proposal to add an HOV lane to a heavily trafficked stretch of I-12 between Walker and the I-10/12 split heads to the Governor’s desk.
Livingston Senator Dale Erdey says it’s an exciting time for the rapidly expanding area and this should help shave time off the commute of everyone driving in and out of Baton Rouge from the east.
“If you carpool and you put two people driving in each vehicle, and you put them in one, then it basically increases the capacity on the existing three lanes that we have right now.”
Before any work can begin a study must be completed, and the project OK’d by the feds, but Erdey says he’s been told the Louisiana Department of Transportation expects to begin work sometime in the fall.
HOV lanes are not exactly common in Louisiana, but are all over major cities like Houston, and states like California. Erdey says DOTD will begin an educational effort to get Bayou State motorists up to speed on the lanes that are only legal to drive in if you have more than one person in the vehicle.
“It’s going to be a learning curve, just like the roundabouts are here in Louisiana, as you see more and more of those developed, but once people get accustomed to it they will figure it out and say, hey, this is a much better route.”
The already unusually large shoulder lanes will be used to facilitate the creation of a new lane, signage will be put up along the 15-mile stretch, and heat sensing cameras will be installed to make sure drivers aren’t skirting the law by putting a dummy in the passenger seat…
“I know the cameras now are so sophisticated that they are heat sensitive, and they can determine whether there is a dummy sitting in the front seat, or a real human being next to the driver.”
