HIGHWAY SAFETY REQUIRES COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
More trails for walkers and bicyclists and more community involvement in highway design will make streets safer for all in the Shreveport area, according to the Allendale Strong advocacy group.
The 13-year-old “learning and doing” group is known for its ongoing fight against building an elevated freeway through north Shreveport. That Interstate 49 project is being directed by the Northwest Louisiana Council of Governments, which has written a draft plan to improve highway safety in Caddo, Bossier, Webster and DeSoto parishes.
The “Safe Streets for All” Regional Safety Action Plan, published earlier this month by NLCOG, falls short in how little it involves the public and learning from other communities, according to Allendale Strong President Dorothy Wiley.
“Changing the bad outcomes of transportation planning requires thinking and doing differently,” Wiley said.
“The draft plan continues NLCOG public-engagement practices that offer only limited options that reinforce the status quo.”
Allendale Strong praised the “String of Pearls” citywide trail plan first advanced decades ago by local architect Bill Weiner Jr. That plan calls for connecting Shreveport parks and public spaces with linear trails for pedestrians and cyclists.
“The String of Pearls adds trails to connect existing trails along waterways, roads, and parks,” Wiley said. “It is a multi-generational project that will add to the beauty and health of the Shreveport community and give us safe alternatives to automobile use.”
Allendale Strong members have studied transportation planning to support the group’s fight against the I-49 Inner-city Connector project. Wiley said the knowledge it has gained can help NLCOG address issues of highway safety.
“Transportation planners need education on how informed citizen groups are moving transportation in a common-sense direction,” Wiley said.
The group cited ReForm Shreveport’s work with the City of Shreveport to redesign Kings Highway near Centenary College as an example of community collaboration.
“NLCOG should work with citizen groups like Allendale Strong, ReForm Shreveport and others,” Wiley said. Projects like the Kings Highway redesign “can help identify needs, budgets, and temporary solutions, leading to permanent improvements.”
Wiley said NLCOG also fails in its draft to acknowledge the conflicts between transportation planning and land-use planning. She pointed to widespread local concern about poorly maintained streets, a problem made worse by suburban sprawl that stretches road-repair dollars.
“Citizens need education about the environmental, social and economic harms caused by transportation planning. We propose a shift from NLCOG’s passive citizen-engagement methods to more robust citizen engagement.”
Allendale Strong said NLCOG “reinforces the status quo” by listening to engineers who advocate faster highway speeds and disregard citizen-led solutions. The group calls upon NLCOG to embrace the “Vision Zero” movement against pedestrian fatalities and study what other cities have done.
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2025.1.31 Dorothy signed AS ltr.to NLCOG.and AS plan review comments