Letters: Convention Center Boulevard has become a traffic nightmare

Convention Center Boulevard has become one giant traffic mess since it was reduced to two lanes.

Who in their right mind thought that removing a four-lane, median-divided road with sidings for passenger drop-offs and replacing it with what is there today — two lanes with fewer pull-overs — was a good idea?

Now, whenever there is a large function at the Convention Center, you can expect to endure stop-and-go traffic. Drivers stop in the middle of the street to pick up or drop off passengers, and the end result is congestion which sometimes extends to Poydras Street.

For those choosing to walk the wonderful wide pedestrian walkway along the narrower boulevard, there is now a wonderful aroma of exhaust fumes coming from those vehicles sitting in traffic.

It would seem logical that as the Convention Center expanded to host more conventions and new hotels were built along the roadway as well, the roadway would have been expanded to handle the demand. But obviously, there was a different mindset.

With plans to expand the Convention Center yet again, we can only assume traffic congestion will get worse. I predict that this will eventually affect the number of large events being hosted by the Convention Center.

Those who select what cities will host their conventions will conclude that having a good product to show does little good if their attendees cannot easily get to and from the Convention Center. Not factoring in improving ease of access for all modes of travel in the boulevard redesign was a failure to plan and a plan to fail.

STEVE ROMANO

Luling