2009 - Q2 Barton Award winners. Students at SJA and CHS join to ...

Jack Norberg of California runs on top of the Mississippi River levee where the
paved section ends near the LSU campus. Supporters want to build a 110-mile
levee-top trail that would link Baton Rouge to New Orleans.
River ride
A proposed levee trail could connect Baton
Rouge to New Orleans >> by maggie heyn richardson
photos by tim mueller
It’s a cyclist’s dream: a 110-mile levee-top trail connecting Baton Rouge
to New Orleans. The scenic thoroughfare would attract walkers, birders,
runners and, especially, serious cyclists eager for a scenic stretch separate
from the speeding cars below. The asphalt trail, say its champions,
could reconnect Louisiana residents with the Mississippi River, provide
a free vehicle for exercise, spark economic development in the chain of
small towns along River Road, and even serve as an alternative transportation
route for emergency vehicles during a hurricane.
The project, called the Mississippi River Levee Multi-Use Trail, is being
proposed by the Pontchartrain Levee District, which oversees levee
boards along the river’s east bank, which includes East Baton Rouge,
Iberville, Ascension, St. James, St. John the Baptist and St. Charles parishes.
Once completed, the trail would snake from East Baton Rouge
Parish to the St. Charles Parish line.
Discussed by local parish governments and the levee district since
2004, the project may finally be gaining traction. Most of the contributions
toward a $250,000 feasibility study are in place, committed by
the district, the six participating parishes, the State of Louisiana and the
Baton Rouge Area Foundation. State support came last year when then-
Sen. Bill Cassidy sponsored a request for $100,000 in capital outlay
funds. The group hopes to complete fund-raising and begin the study in
the next few months, says coordinator Eric Poche of SJB Group in Baton
Rouge.
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Currents Q2 | 2009