transportation

A Baton Rouge judge has nullified the election results for the 20-year renewal of the tolls for the Crescent City Connection in New Orleans and has ordered a new election in May.

WWL-TV reports state District Judge William Morvant ruled Tuesday that several eligible voters were given provisional ballots that only included federal races and not the local measures.

The local toll renewal passed by just 36 votes in a November election.

Are you a mega-commuter?

The United States Census Bureau defines "mega-commuters" as people who travel at least 90 minutes or more than 50 miles to work each day. Nearly 600,000 Americans have a mega-commute, according to the Census Bureau, and 10.8 million travel at least an hour to work each way.

Over 192,000 people commute into Orleans Parish, according to the Census (including people traveling to and from work within the city).

State highway officials say work will begin in April on a busy stretch of U.S. Highway 190 that straddles Bayou Chinchuba in Mandeville.

The Times-Picayune reports the $11.3 million project will correct what many frustrated motorists have referred to as a hiccup in an earlier road improvement effort designed to ease east-west traffic flow through the heart of the city.

A record number of passengers flew into and out of Lafayette Regional Airport in 2012, marking three consecutive years of record-breaking passenger activity.

A total of 459,119 travelers flew into and out of the airport in 2012, topping the previous number of 455,730 set in 2011.

The Advertiser reports Mike Burrows, the airport's assistant director of aviation, credited the soaring activity to increased marketing efforts through the Fly Lafayette campaign.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has announced the Mississippi River schedules for Super Bowl weekend, Feb. 2-3.

Canal-Gretna

The Gretna Ferry, which services the route to and from Canal Street, will go into service at 12:45 p.m. It will make its last trip from Gretna at 11:30 p.m. and its last trip from Canal at midnight. Departures from Gretna will be made on the half hour and from Canal on the hour. Gretna is a pedestrian only route.

Canal-Algiers

Work on the damaged Algiers Point Ferry Terminal that was suspended yesterday due to inclement weather will be completed today by 3:30 p.m., according to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

Ferry service from the Algiers Point terminal will remain suspended while the work is being completed, the DOTD said. However, the DOTD says all construction is weather-dependent, and may need to be rescheduled again.

The Loyola Avenue streetcar line is now operating from the Union Passenger Terminal at Howard Avenue to Canal Street. While much has been made of it serving merely to shuttle tourists to the Superdome, it could serve residents as well.

Federal and city officials will gather at the Union Passenger Terminal today to kick off service on the new Loyola Avenue streetcar line. Special stops are planned along the mile-and-a-half route.

Because of the magnitude of special events surrounding Super Bowl and a full slate of parades associated with New Orleans' carnival season, state transportation officials say they are suspending lane closures on all bridges, freeways, expressways and arterial roadways near those activities.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development says the suspension will be in place form 8 a.m. Friday through 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13.

Baton Rouge tourism and airport officials are preparing for a large influx of traffic through the city because of the Super Bowl in New Orleans on Feb. 3.

Some of the heaviest traffic will come through Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, where officials and businesses are expecting as many as 250 additional planes that will need to be parked during the event.