This group is dedicated to support the proposed Interstate 49 Connector freeway project in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The I-49 Lafayette Connector is a 5-mile proposed controlled access freeway that would extend along the Evangeline Thruway corridor from the existing I-10/I-49/US 167 interchange to the southern limits of Lafayette just south of Lafayette Regional Airport. Except for a segment within the core area of downtown where the freeway corridor would follow a gradual curve parallel to the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF)/Union Pacific (UP) rail line just to its west, the corridor would be located within the right of way of the existing Evangeline Thruway.

The Lafayette Connector is slated to be the final connection for the larger I-49 South Project, which would upgrade the majority of the US 90 corridor from Lafayette to and along the Westbank Expressway in metropolitan New Orleans to fully controlled access Interstate-grade freeway standards. Segments of I-49 South have already been completed or are under construction; the remaining segments are currently under environmental review and initial conceptual design.

This particular corridor was given approval from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) through a Record of Decision issued in Feburary 2003, following the completion of an Enviornmental Impact Statement (EIS) published in October 2002.

The corridor's approval has been reinforced through resolution of civil and legal action; a lawsuit that had been filed in 2003 by a consolidated group called Concerned Citizens of Lafayette challenging the process of the EIS and ROD was thrown out in 2004 via a decision by US District Judge Tucker Melancon. That ruling was upheld in 2005 upon appeal to the US Fifth District Court of Appeals.

Due to the nature of impacts the Connector would potentially have on the surrounding community, LADOTD, FHWA, and Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government have agreed to conduct a unique and detailed process for both developing the Connector freeway's design, and mitigating its potential negative impacts. In addition to the currently ongoing Conceptual Design Study from LADOTD and FHWA with full input from LCG, there is also an ongoing Evangeline Thruway Corridor Connectivity Study, funded in part through a US Department of Transportation TIGER Grant, where public feedback in successfully integrating the Connector freeway with its surrounding neighborhoods is currently being sought after and analyzed.

The details of the Conceptual Design Study are available at LADOTD's I-49 Connector website LafayetteConnector.com; the Evangeline Thruway Redevelopment Team's Evangeline Corridor Initiative has its own page as well, EvangelineCorridor.com.

Nevertheless, long time opponents of the Connector freeway have never given up on their illusions against this project; many of the same people who led the original lawsuit against the Connector freeway are now plotting the foundation for a new lawsuit, by accusations and claims about the process and the alternatives provided in this latest study.

This group is intended to respectfully provide the case for the Connector, as well as respectfully debunk claims by the opponents that alternatives bypassing the city, such as the often talked about but elusively never analyzed Teche Ridge Eastern Bypass through St. Martin Parish, would be less disruptive and less expensive than the current Connector corridor.

It should be noted that while this group will use material from FHWA, LADOTD and LCG archives, it is not affiliated in any way with LADOTD, the FHWA, LCG, the design team currently overseeing the Lafayette Connector Conceptual Design Study, the Evangeline Corridor study, or any other official organization or group. The views expressed here are solely those of the group's founders and contributors. Official details about the project can be found at the LafayetteConnector.com website.

In addition, this group is not intended to cast any negative asperations on any individual or group that is opposed on principle to the Connector freeway; they have every right as citizens of Lafayette, Louisiana, and the USA to exercise their opposition through the legal process, and use the media to express their concerns about this project. This group is meant to give a full and respectful defense for the Connector freeway project and work with all reasonable people to create a final project that balances all of the objectives and concerns of the citizens of Lafayette, and makes the completion of the I-49 South extension to New Orleans closer to fruition.

The creator of this group has a currently running blog detailing his support for the Connector freeway, along with some constructive and friendly criticism of some of the proposed designs.

http://redgarterclub.com/RGClubNetwork/buildi49lafayetteconnector/

There is also the Connect Lafayette website developed by other supporters of the project:

http://www.connectlafayette.com

A petition supporting construction of the Connector will be released shortly.