Baton Rouge — Funding Request Postponed

August 2017

Baton Rouge, the capital city of Louisiana, will not seek federal transportation funds for a proposed 3.4-mile modern streetcar project from downtown to the state university campus, the business report states. More study is needed, the mayor says.

A September deadline for seeking federal funding will be missed as Mayor Sharon Weston Broome wants further study. The streetcar project was backed by former mayor Kip Holden, but has not won the same support from the new mayor as an urban redevelopment tool.

Residents in the less prosperus north Baton Rouge resent funding being spent on the healthier south Baton Rouge. Residents in the southeast section of the parish feel the project would be a waste of money.

Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Rowdy Gaudet says “There has not been any overwhelming feedback that this is the project that has to be done,” Gaudet says. “So it is absolutely on the mayor's radar but I don’t think it’s something we’re saying we’ve got to put a hustle on it.”

Click here to see an op-ed in Greater Baton Rouge Business Report covering in depth the arguments for and against the streetcar project.