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Church and residents press parish to restore turning lane on Bootlegger Road; engineer warns of major right‑of‑way costs
Summary
First Baptist Church representatives and residents told the Infrastructure Committee that removal of a previous J‑turn and installation of a bike lane has diverted U‑turn traffic into the church parking lot; the parish engineer said restoring a truck‑capable J‑turn would likely require buying additional right‑of‑way and utility relocations, raising costs to roughly $1.5 million.
Daniel Hill, director of engineering, told the committee that preliminary in‑house design for a J‑turn at Bootlegger Road could not safely accommodate larger trucks within the existing right‑of‑way and that constructing a full, truck‑capable J‑turn would require substantial land acquisition and utility relocation. Hill estimated the scope could rise from an initial budget of about $200,000 to roughly $1.5 million with right‑of‑way purchase and relocations.
Steven Babin, who the council identified as a representative of First Baptist Church, described repeated cut‑through traffic using the church property as a turning location after a bike lane was installed and the J‑turn curb was extended. He said the church recently spent $48,000 repairing entrance damage from vehicles using church grounds to make turns and urged the parish to restore turning capacity or otherwise alleviate the problem. Hill said options include buying land, moving the roadway slightly toward church property, shortening the bike path curb return to regain turning radius, or holding broader corridor planning and development agreements. Gina Hayes from the administration cautioned that the bike path segment may have been built with grant funds and shortening it could be restricted by grant terms.
The engineer agreed to lay out alternatives showing what would be needed to restore turning capacity and to report back; the council also discussed non‑structural measures such as signage and targeted enforcement but acknowledged those are likely to be ineffective without geometric changes. No formal action or funding decision was taken; the committee asked staff to produce a layout and cost estimate as the next step.
