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I-49 Infill Project

Completed in the 1990’s, Interstate 49 connects Interstates 20 and 10 across Louisiana. The legislature has proposed that the Interstate be extended south to New Orleans and north to Kansas City, Missouri. Construction has already begun in Missouri.
The city of Lafayette, Louisiana (where the Interstate currently terminates at its southern tip) contracted with the University of Louisiana School of Architecture to propose an architectural Master Plan for the extension through part of the city’s older neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are already served by US Highway 90 (the proposed path of I-49). The project simply involved the expansion and upgrading of the old Highway.
In the spring of 2003, as part of the curriculum at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, I put together a proposal for a fictitious infill project along the Interstate 49 extension. The proposal was used to generate political support for the development of connections from the downtown to the new Interstate corridor.
The project was a source of much political debate, but ultimately won the favor of the city’s economic development authority for supplying the stated goals of street activation, housing and business development. Although the project will never be built, the momentum it produced will live on.