Ever heard of the Lafayette Metropolitan Expressway? No? Well, as conversations about the future of the I-49 connector have gained momentum again, so has a long-dormant proposal to build a “loop” around the western edge of Lafayette instead.
Risen from the crypt in the appropriate season, the Lafayette Metropolitan Expressway Commission met for the first time in years last week to restart discussions on the semicircular “loop” that would run through Carencro, Ossun, Judice and Maurice.
So why dust off the old maps now? Commission Chair Elaine Abell was quick to refute any connection to the plans for a massive rocket launch facility in Vermilion Parish that have dominated headlines as of late.
“We did not resurrect this project because of SpaceX,” Abell said, “We’ve been working on this since 2003.” However, it’s worth noting that the commission hadn’t met publicly since 2019, until last Tuesday.
SpaceX and its promise to hire 3,000 employees don’t hurt discussions, Abell admits, but the board was revived after conversations about the economic growth the Acadiana region and the coast have seen over the years, from drone manufacturing to LNG facilities and the Port of Iberia.
“You just got a whole lot going on. It’s going to be wonderful for this area,” Abell said.
It’s a 36-mile semicircular highway that would run through northern Iberia Parish near the Acadiana Regional Airport along LA Hwy 182, rounding westward into Vermilion Parish near Maurice, continuing into western Lafayette Parish, connecting at Interstate 10, and end north of Carencro along Interstate 49.
Its ultimate function is to provide an alternative interstate route that bypasses Lafayette.
But there’s a major challenge: Unlike the much discussed I-49 connector — itself far from being fully funded — the alternative proposal has no cost projections and no current funding source attached to it, with Abell and the project’s engineering firm, Dallas-headquartered Jacobs Engineering, suggesting the project could be funded through public-private partnerships with funding coming primarily from tolls.
Abell believes that recent economic wins for South Louisiana will make the project more viable and necessary to accommodate increased commercial trucking traffic.
“We want to move goods and services…without running heavy equipment through our towns,” Abell said.
Abell wouldn’t comment on whether she believes the project is more realistic than the I-49 Connector project. She did say that the two could complement one another.
The expressway has received recent attention, at least in some circles. In a September meeting hosted by DOTD to provide final comment on the environmental study for the I-49 connector, several residents said they’d wish to see the expressway constructed over the connector. The semi-loop is also a frequent talking point of Lafayette Parish Councilmember John Guilbeau.
The Federal Highway Administration and Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development issued a Record of Decision for a larger corridor study area of the project back in 2022.
The commission is currently in a post-Tier One phase, which includes traffic studies and prediction models, examining right-of-ways and identifying the best way to fund the project. Tier Two would include proposing up to three alternative routes along the corridor, triggering another environmental review and a public engagement process.
“We’re just getting started on this,” Patrick Owen, vice president and executive project manager at Jacobs, said.
