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BRT East-West Corridor Locally Preferred Alternative
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DESCRIPTION: Adopt the LPA for the BRT East-West Bank Corridor allowing the project to advance to the environmental and design phase and apply to FTA’s CIG Small Starts program |
AGENDA NO: Click or tap here to enter text. |
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ACTION REQUEST: ☒ Approval ☐ Review Comment ☐ Information Only ☐ Other |
RECOMMENDATION:
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Approve the staff-recommended Locally Preferred Alignment (LPA), as described below, for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) East-West Bank Corridor project.
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ISSUE/BACKGROUND:
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The New Orleans region has a severe and worsening disparity in access to jobs, education and basic services between households that can easily afford a car and those that cannot. A transit users’ average commute is 75% longer. The hospitality and service industry, a key economic driver, is concentrated in the downtown core, yet nearby housing prices have increased 80+% in the last 6 years pushing residents further away. A new mode of transit is needed to:
• reliably and affordably move people from outer neighborhoods
• create more and equitable opportunities for upward mobility
• orient development of new, workforce housing and walkable communities
RTA identified several rapid transit corridors in its 2019 Strategic Mobility Plan. Rapid transit would be a first in the region, yet among the largest 50 metro areas, New Orleans area is one of only 7 without any rapid transit in service or under construction. In recognition of the need and the plan, the FTA awarded RTA a HOPE grant in 2020 to study one of these corridors for rapid transit using buses or BRT.
RTA commenced its BRT feasibility study and alternatives analysis in late 2021 to develop:
• BRT Standards: establish a guide as a new mode of transit service
• Corridor Plan: Develop and identify community-supported route based on evaluation of several alternatives; preliminary location stations; and conceptual design of the guideway
• Finance Plan: prepare cost estimates and funding strategy
To provide technical and engagement assistance and create the plans, the staff selected a team from its on-call A&E pool led by ILSI Engineering (a local DBE civil engineering firm) supported by HNTB (an international planning and design firm) and Hawthorne Agency (a local DBE community outreach firm).
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DISCUSSION:
The process for developing the proposed LPA begins with a general goal, as defined by the initial concept and approved grant application, of connecting New Orleans East to downtown with an extension to Algiers.
At the outset three different groups of stakeholders were convene to dialogue and provide in-depth input into the conceptual planning:
- 3 community advisory groups, one for each of Algiers, Treme/7th Ward/Gentilly and Treme composed of residents and advocates
- a business advisory group, composed of representatives from major employers and institutions
- a technical advisory group, composed of local and state government officials
A summary of the results of these convenings is attached to this report.
RTA staff and planning team approached the route evaluation and selection process by first determining that any route needed to pass through several key gateways along the way:
1. Future East transit center at Lake Forest Blvd and Read Blvd (tbd site near current interim hub)
2. Danziger Bridge - as the project will not utilize the interstate in order to directly connect to neighborhoods along the way with spaced-out stations
3. Future downtown transit center at Basin St at Canal Blvd
4. Crescent City Connection as the only direct road access to Algiers
As a result, the route was divided into four (4) segments and a wide range of options was narrowed to 3 alternatives for each segment based on basic viability as a rapid transit corridor. These options were evaluated based on technical criteria as well as through all of the advisory groups and several rounds of public meetings and a public survey with over 1,000 responses, evenly divided between riders and non-riders. Details on the evaluation results of these alternatives are attached to this report. Finally, the staff did several internal reviews and rode the routes to make its final recommendation.
The recommended BRT route will terminate at Lake Forest Blvd and Read Blvd, near the site of the current interim hub, at a future permanent East transit center. The route travels along Lake Forest Boulevard to its end then transitions to Chef Highway via Wilson Blvd. The route continues over the Danziger Bridge and through the future Gentilly Woods transit center and continuing along Gentilly Boulevard turning down Elysian Fields Avenue and then along Claiborne Avenue through the 7th Ward and Tremé to Orleans Avenue. The route turns onto Orleans Avenue into Basin Street through the future permanent downtown transit center at Canal Street. The route continues down Loyola Avenue and down Poydras Avenue to Tchoupitoulas Street (S Peters Street in reverse) to access the Crescent City Connection. Once in Algiers, the route will terminate at the site formerly known as Algiers Park & Ride Facility near Wall Boulevard and General de Gaulle. See map below for the proposed route and possible station locations (to be finalized in design phase).
The proposed route’s physical characteristics are:
- ~15.4 miles
- 22 stations
- 54 minutes potential travel time (with transit priority)
The community characteristics within ½ mile of the proposed route include:
- 70,000+ people
o 17% under 18 years old
o 12% over 65 years old
o 80% minority
o 30% below the poverty level
o $36,100 average median income
- 91,000 jobs
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no direct financial impact to RTA budget as a result of this action.
RTA Board has already approved the use of some local funds to begin the environmental & design work as part of the 2023 budget. Additional funding commitments for the project will come before the board in future resolutions and/or as part of the 5-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP).
NEXT STEPS:
With the adoption of the LPA by the Board, the staff will submit the LPA for adoption by the New Orleans City Council. The study phase will conclude in Q1 2023 with a final corridor plan with preliminary design concepts, draft station locations and initial traffic assessment, as well as a financing plan for the project.
The project will then be ready to start pre-development work including environmental and preliminary design in 2023 with local funding only initially, as necessary to develop an application for funding and keep the project on pace.
In parallel, staff will be targeting a 2023 application to the FTA’s Capital Improvement Grant (CIG) due by August 2023 as the primary funding source. Staff will submit the requisite letter of intent to apply in April 2023.
With project acceptance, determined in early 2024, RTA will need to secure local match by mid-2024 total remaining project costs. If this funding cycle is successful, the project would be complete and ready for service in 2027.
ATTACHMENTS:
Bus Rapid Transit Locally Preferred Alternative “NORTA_BRT_LPA”
Prepared By: Dwight Norton
Title: Interim Chief of Planning & Infrastructure
Reviewed By: Gizelle Banks
Title: Chief Financial Officer
1/10/2023
Lona Edwards Hankins Date
Interim Chief Executive Officer