Crowded intersections and long wait times at stoplights are frequent experiences for drivers making their way down Siegen Lane, one of Baton Rouge's busiest roads.
During peak hours, traffic slows down along the busy thoroughfare as cars merge from Interstate 10, head toward Airline Highway or stop at one of many businesses along the way.
With only two places for drivers to get on and off the interstate in the area, at Highland Road and at Siegen Lane, city-parish transportation and drainage director Fred Raiford called the intersections "the two biggest problems down in the southeast part of the parish" in terms of traffic.
"The reason for that is that there’s a lot of traffic that wants to go eastbound, a lot of them may want to go westbound but a lot of that traffic gets off and they want to go toward Airline Highway," Raiford said. "Those issues are being looked at this point to see what needs to be done."
For Zachary Rogers, an employee at the GNC store in Siegen Plaza, working near the busy road has been more of a hassle than usual in recent months.
"Lately it’s been rough just with overall traffic buildup," he said. "You’ll notice that, especially for a lot of the businesses in this plaza, the light takes a really long time to go green, and so the cars will be strung out throughout the entire parking lot."
Rogers estimated that about 10 customers complain to him each day about how long it takes to get in and out of the plaza due to traffic on Siegen.
"It does hurt business because there are other locations where you don’t have to spend 30 minutes in traffic every day," he said. "For those hours from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. it’s rough, it really is. I don’t blame people."
John Brown, general sales manager at Team Honda on Siegen Lane, said he gives people tips on how to navigate the busy road as they pull into traffic in their new cars.
"We tell our customers when they’re leaving out, especially customers that are new or young, don’t make lefts on Siegen Lane," he said. "Going out the front of the dealership, we’ll tell our customers to make sure they make a right … we’ve seen a lot of cars from out of town who are not familiar with Baton Rouge."
Solving Siegen
Outside of complaints he has received about the overall volume of traffic, Raiford said another big concern for drivers on Siegen Lane is the length and timing of stoplights in the area.
Raiford said the Department of Transportation & Development handles signal maintenance and timing on the interstate, but he works closely with the agency to reduce traffic congestion once drivers hit Siegen Lane.
“There are a lot of questions about why [traffic] is stacking up so much; we’re always asking our traffic people to look at the timing plans," he said. "Sometimes we set them to where if you get more traffic that’s using it during certain times of the day, you’re going to see some delays."
"It’s not going to be perfect, but I also believe that what we have done and what’s being proposed will minimize that inconvenience for the motoring public in the future.”
Two projects in the works are designed to improve the driving experience for motorists on and around Siegen Lane.
The first and furthest along of the projects is the creation of an I-10 interchange at Pecue Lane. Located between the current I-10 exits at Highland Road and Siegen Lane, the interchange will give drivers another place to merge on or off the interstate.
"Probably the most significant project is the Pecue interchange, because that gives you three locations from off the interstate to get to Airline Highway where you can diversify your traffic as far as where it needs to be, where they want to get off at and just to have more connectivity," Raiford said.
The other project, to widen Perkins Road from Siegen to Pecue, completed final plans in February, according to the MOVEBR website. With a proposition budget of $26 million, the project will include pedestrian facilities and provide another outlet for traffic in the area.
"The widening of Perkins is going to be a tremendous asset," Raiford said. "It gives more separation and it gives another location you can go to without having to go at Siegen and Airline."
