The first draft of an economic development plan for private and public redevelopment in neighborhoods along the Evangeline Thruway Corridor outside the Interstate 49 Lafayette Connector footprint is under review by the Evangeline Thruway Redevelopment Team.
The culmination of a year of meetings with residents and business owners as well as research and urban planning, the draft Evangeline Corridor Economic Action Plan includes strategies for coordinating public and private investments along a three-mile area near the Connector but not part of the federal and state Connector project.
"The Economic Action Plan offers a roadmap to organize investments around high-impact areas," the report released to ETRT members on Monday states. "To deliver the benefits, it is vital for public and private actors as well as various community partners to collaborate and align their interests and resources."
The plan organizes a series of initiatives around eight catalytic projects at strategic locations along the Evangeline Corridor, including along the proposed "Grand Boulevard" and sites to the north.
Projects may include mixed-use development, commercial and retail businesses, neighborhood amenities, open spaces and infrastructure improvements that meet community needs, such as safer pedestrian connections between neighborhoods.
The catalytic projects together "aim to form a system of strategic investments that reconnect communities, bridge the economic divide and celebrate the uniqueness of each neighborhood," the action plan states.
Those projects include:
- Simcoe Triangle — between Simcoe and Jefferson streets, includes Greenhouse art studio. Proposed 72 new housing units, including affordable housing for seniors.
- Downtown Connection — does not include Downtown; from around former Coburn's building to past Louisiana Avenue. Proposed restaurants, lounges, multi-use lawns for events, mixed-use with residential, linear park.
- Boulevard South — approximately from Marne Street to Louisiana Avenue. Proposed mixed-use, community center, multi-family and infill housing, health clinic.
- Donlon Triangle — between Donlon Avenue and abandoned rail line. Proposed mixed-use space with health clinic, multi-family housing, senior housing, restaurant with outdoor dining.
- McComb-Veazey Central — between 11th and 13th streets and Magnolia and Apple streets. Proposed multi- and single-family housing, community pavilion, community plaza, retail space.
- MLK Jr. Plaza — between Connector, MLK Boulevard and Parkway Shopping Center. Proposed plaza with outdoor dining and space for mobile health unit, public green space, mixed-use space, retail space or small live-work units.
- Jefferson Intersection — bordered by Simcoe, South Magnolia and 6th streets and Connector, incorporating Jefferson Boulevard. Proposed grocery store, mixed-use/workforce development space, public plaza to honor cultural history, multi-family housing, small business retail center.
- Plan Patterson — bordered by Patterson and Netta streets and Connector, includes Holiday Inn. Proposed hotel expansion with conference space, single-family lots, multi-family housing with opportunity for ground-floor retail such as micro-grocery, plaza with possible community center, small-scale live/work space.
ETRT team members are reviewing the draft plan and will suggest changes to be included in a final plan, ETRT Chairman Alex Lazard said. He anticipates presenting the near-final draft to stakeholders in the fall.
Another plan, the Evangeline Corridor Initiative released in 2018, Lazard said, identified 44 catalyst projects — including the 12th Street and Willow Street streetscape projects — some of which have already been undertaken using public funds.
With officials narrowing the alignment of the Connector in recent years, he said, the ETRT began focusing on private redevelopment opportunities, including housing and commercial, just outside the scope of the Connector project. That led to the draft Economic Action Plan.