STATE REPRESENTATIVE MAYORAL CANDIDATE PHELPS ADDRESSES TRAFFIC AT EDEN GARDENS/CADDO MIDDLE MAGNET SCHOOLS

For parents who drive their children to and from school, the inevitable carpool lines are often a daily headache for them as well as for motorists driving on streets lined with idling cars.
 
Several major traffic arteries are affected near Eden Gardens Elementary, Caddo Middle Magnet, University Elementary and Fairfield Magnet along with Southfield  and South Highland Magnet schools, to name a few.
 
State Representative Tammy Phelps, who is a Shreveport mayoral candidate, appeared before the Shreveport City Council Public Safety Committee meeting on Monday to address Line Avenue carpool access and from
 
Eden Gardens and Caddo Middle Magnet schools.
 
Phelps was accompanied by Kent Rogers, Executive Director of NLCOG, who presented the results of NLCOG’s STREETLIGHT platform which has greatly improved NLCOG’s traffic performance analytical capabilities by utilizing probe data analysis.
 
Phelps cited issues with neighborhood residents having ingress and egress from their homes and public safety concerns regarding access by emergency vehicles. She stated these problems had existed for 50 years.
 
Here is a summary of Rogers’ presentation:
 
1. The general neighborhood is roughly 1 mile in diameter with a population of 1220 and 483 housing units based on the 2020 census
 
2.  Over a 3-hour period (6 am to 9 am) on an average weekday morning, more than 3,000 vehicles travel within the neighborhood  
 
4.  In the afternoon, between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., over 2100 vehicles travel within the neighborhood
 
5.  Many vehicles drive through the neighborhood to break into the carpool lines during these hours
 
6.  Vehicles often double drive down streets, block driveways, and double park on the streets
 
7.  Street signage for school entry and exit was incorrect.
 
Councilmen Alan Jackson, who requested the presentation be place on the agenda, acknowledged that a meaningful resolution of this problem will entail the coordination by the Council with SPD, the Caddo  School Board, and possibly DOTD since Line Avenue is a state highway.
 
Further discussion of this issue will continue with the goal to have a new procedures in place by the beginning of the fall school year. Councilman Jackson will follow up to schedule a meeting of the involved agencies to address this issue.