LETS GET STARTED

[TBEAR]

I started the forum to with the intent of allowing everyone to voice their opinions regarding Lafayette, Louisiana's city government, mainly their inability to provide adequate roads for its citizens.

There are no other messageboards I found that exists for Lafayette.

My main complaint is with our traffic problem especially on the southside of Lafayette where the roads cannot support the traffic load.

You would think that our government would have built roads prior to the development of numerous subdivisions. The developers and realestate people also fail to tell prospective home buyers of the traffic congestion.

There is no reason it takes almost an hour to cross this small parish.

Then with the influx of several thousand people after the hurricanes it just added to the problem.

Feel free to discuss all of your experiences such as travel times to and from, etc.

[guest]

I agree. there are too many people on the roads for this parish, and too many people driving around with no legitimate destinations. In the middle of the day, while other people are hard at work, they have people driving around with the head up their you know what.

I dont know what the heck is wrong with our city government but it appears as long as it doesn't bother them they aint gonna worry about it.

[guest]

i can not post on the lafayette parish consiolidated part of this forum. but i woul d like to add this site www.lafayettepublicpolicy.com for peopl to look at

this is not an endorsment just wanted it to be seen

[theman]

Traffic is bad. i might have to move to the northside just so i dont have to leave my house 2 hours before work to get there on time.

on second thought, i dont like the council members on the northside. guess i will stay where im at and just fight traffic to work

[TBEAR]

thank you for the post of www.lafayettepublicpolicy.com

[GG]

I have a complaint about verot school rd at pinhook rd. The idiot who is setting the timing on the traffic light needs to go out their at 4:00 - 5:00 pm and see what the traffic is doing. the traffic backs up on verot headed south coming from 90 and the light will go from green to red after only 8 - 9 cars pass through the intersection, while there is no traffic on pinhook and the light stays green for pinhook for at least 8 - 9 minutes.

I dont think anyone in the transportation department knows what they are doing.

[TBEAR]

Yeah nick its real bad around those intersections at prime times, and since the hurricanes its really worse, although it was bad before

Now it looks like the city is going to have to come up with around 12 million to pay the city officers and fireman so an outer loop i dont beleive will ever happen to help the traffic

[guest]

I hear that Hwy 733 will be made into a four lane by 2007. This will help with traffic on the southside. So be patient help is on the way.

[TBEAR]

It wont happen fast enough

[zoe10850]

nick said:

Though I am a conservative/libertarian and hate the IRS always trying to find new ways to get their hands on my income, I would not be completely opposed to having taxes within our parish raised a bit to build a loop.

[zoe10850]

It is readily apparent to anyone who has lived elsewhere that the citizens of Lafayette are apathetic. we tolerate one inept administration after another. We have had ONE TRAFFIC planner in the history of the parish, and he is still employedby us.

The citizens of Lafayette recently voted (by approx 60-40 vote) to hand the current city hall $125 million dollars to lay fiber optic cable. This voter turn out - approximately 40 % of registered votewrs. This to an administration that cannot even keep the grass cut on the medians. How about investing in some overpasses ? We could build several for $125m. Are we so pathetic that 25% of the people decide for us ??

wonder why people run lights (very bad practice). If one has to wait 3 to 5 light cycles at every turn, one gets impatient. The City solution ? Let's put camera's on red lights so that we can fleece the public out of some more money.....

Thanks for letting me vent (spent a wasted hour in traffic today)

[TBEAR]

Let those council members, especially the northside members, drive on the southside, I'll bet you after a week of taking an hour to get home or go to work they would be jumping at the bit to get money for roads.

[p d mouton]

A well-traveled Lafayette roadway is getting a much-needed make-over.

City-parish officials broke ground Thursday on the West Pont des Mouton widening project.

The road will be widened from I-49 to University.

City-parish president Joey Durel says it's a big accomplishment because there's very little money left in the budget for these types of projects.

[TBEAR]

Now if only you had traffic on the road to use it when its finished.

[TBEAR]

I just saw the news and Joey just had a big meeting today with other council members and northside business owners, ex=Herbert Schilling , about the frontage roads near I-10.

Joey said the LCG doesnt have the money for it much less to build the other NEEDED roads in the parish.

So it appears it was another "I dont know what we are going to do" meeting to passify everyone involved.

I do not agree with wasting money, anyway, on frontage roads when there are numerous other roads, already built, that need attention due to heavy traffic.

So they are going to beg the feds for the money

[zoe10850]

it is a polite way (from Mr Durel) to say that we need additional funds to build additional roads. I agree. Let us citizens that OWN L.U.S. sell this albatros to a regulated taxpaying company, and use the estimated $500 - $750 million value to address infrastructure needs. I will vote for any candidate that will move on this, or at least address the feasibility.

[sassy820]

What ever happen to the widening of Verot School Rd. I thought the council had already pasted this amendment ! You sure can not tell by driving on it every day. This road gets worse by the week and all the council can seem to argue about is changing a road name .... please some people need to get a life and get over themselves !!! Let some of them come and try to drive this road in the morning or evening. I bet they would have a change of heart. Verot School Rd is one of the worse roads in our parish and I think some people should remember where a good bit of the tax dollars actually come from. I know there are more working people or should I say people whom have actual jobs that pay the taxes into our city live on the south side but we are always left out of the mix due to the fact that we don't have our butts up in front of the council every Tuesday bothering them with the most stupid issues I have ever heard. Why don't you people leave them alone and let them get back to the real matters at hand !!!!!

[TBEAR]

I just found this article in the advertiser, read it:

www.acadiananow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060119/NEWS01/601190336/1002

Now tell me if the school board got 6 million dollars how much did the city/parish get. I'm sure it was more than that so lets use it for the ROADS!!!

[zoe10850]

guest said:

i can not post on the lafayette parish consiolidated part of this forum. but i woul d like to add this site www.lafayettepublicpolicy.com for peopl to look at

this is not an endorsment just wanted it to be seen

[zoe10850]

I went to the site...So we "need more taxes"? And who do we trust will spend the funds on what we expect? If we voted to fund and complete projects in 1997 with millions and millions of dollars, yet, many projects were not started, and there is no more money (per Mr Durel), why in the name of God would we trust these people with more money.....?

How many jobs did the former parish president dole out to political allies ? How many of his cronies have high paying, civil service protected jobs? How is it that the roads we were promised never got built? I believe that this borders on criminal....where is our District Attorney ? Oh, that's right, his law partner was the city attorney, and his secretary's husband is the city prosecuter....so much for good ethics.