Installation to Begin on 'Connect the Crescent' Demonstration of Mobility Options

NEW ORLEANS — Installation will begin to temporarily redesign automobile, bicycle and pedestrian traffic paths on a stretch of roads that connect Central City, the CBD and the French Quarter as part of a new mobility project.

Connect the Crescent, led by Bike Easy with a coalition of partners and support from the City of New Orleans, will install a three-month "pop-up" demonstration of a connected, protected roadway network to show how streets can be transformed to safely and equitably serve everyone who travels in New Orleans. This temporary demonstration, which will launch in mid-September and end in mid-December, will serve as an opportunity to start a community discussion about making mobility in New Orleans safe and accessible for everyone.

The demonstration project will showcase a connected network of low-stress bikeways, pedestrian safety measures and improved transit-stop access in the downtown area. The project will be installed by local volunteers over the next two weeks.

The street changes for Connect the Crescent will be completed on Sept. 15. This will coincide with Big Easy Streets, an open streets event hosted by the New Orleans Health Department to showcase a healthy, active street closed to vehicle traffic. This event will be held on Basin Street (from Canal Street to St. Louis Street, on the river side) from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Programming will include fitness, health screenings and tours of Connect the Crescent.

Additional events and activities will be announced throughout the three-month demonstration. The debut of the project also will precede Walk/Bike/Places 2018 (Sept. 16-18), the premier conference in North America for walking, bicycling and placemaking professionals from the public and private sectors.

Navigating the route: Central City will be connected to the CBD and the French Quarter along Simon Bolivar Avenue starting at Jackson Avenue, turning on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and then Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard. Once across the overpass, the route turns onto Howard Avenue as a two-way bikeway and then Baronne Street, transitioning to one-way bikeways on O’Keefe Street at Union Street or Gravier Street to connect to Tchoupitoulas Street. Tchoupitoulas will have a two-way bikeway from Gravier Street through the French Quarter along North Peters Street/Decatur Street before splitting out to one-way bikeways after Dumaine Street. The Lafitte Greenway will be connected to the French Quarter on St. Louis Street and then onto Toulouse Street via Basin Street and Conti Street via Rampart Street.

“Creating safe and easy options for people biking, walking, and taking transit will have a powerful impact on improving equity, job access, public health, economic development, and livability in the city and throughout the region,” said Dan Favre, Executive Director of Bike Easy, “We're excited to work with the City of New Orleans to develop new community engagement tools that help create streets that are truly built to share, that are built to be safe and accessible for everyone, no matter how they get around.”

Connect the Crescent is fully funded by grants and sponsorships, including support from: Wend Ventures, AARP, People for Bikes, Cities of Service, Dero, the American Heart Association, University of New Orleans Transportation Institute, Louisiana Cancer Prevention and Control Programs, Asakura Robinson, Basin Street Station, District C Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer/Harrah's Community Grant, the Downtown Development District, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, Friends of Lafitte Greenway, Traffic Solutions, American Public Works Association - GNO Chapter, AECOM, HNTB, Command Construction, and Pavement Markings. The work is being coordinated with support from the City of New Orleans through its Office of Resilience and Sustainability and related departments.

Learn more about the demonstration project at www.connectthecrescent.com . The website also offers opportunities to volunteer, provide community feedback and learn more about mobility opportunities in the City of New Orleans. You can also reach out through the email address at ctc@nola.gov.

SOURCE: https://www.nola.gov/mayor/news/august-2018/installation-to-begin-on-connect-the-crescent-d/