Upon my return from Baton Rouge, I could not find a way into the city of

Lafayette. The rerouting of traffic up I-49 to HWY 190 was not the problem.

The problem was the closure of all exits from I-10 and I-49 upon approach to

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the detour. I was attempting to go to the campus of the University of

Louisiana, but I was rerouted as far as Gloria Switch Road and through the

northside of Lafayette because of the exit closures. There was no reason to

close these exits. There was also no reason to reroute all traffic Westbound

I-10 to North I-49. Many people were attempting to exit onto Evangeline

Thruway / HWY 167 South. I saw many people turning around on I-49 through

the medium and I considered the illegal maneuver myself. The traffic was

utterly ridiculous and because of the exit closures, I was more than an hour

late for class.

The announcement of the closure of the crossover at Captain Cade has been in

place for about a week now, but I do not think everyone knew that this move

was permanent. Not only has the crossover at Captain Cade Road been closed,

but so have several other crossovers in the area. If the crossover was so

dangerous, why not put a traffic light other? Why close all four crossovers

in the area? The closure of a busy intersection is not the solution. The

closure of the crossover would not be such a problem if it was not for

accessibility issues.

Currently, the section of HWY 90 between HWY 93 and HWY 88 has only short potions of a frontage road. Without these crossovers, traffic attempting to access businesses on the opposite side of the highway will have to go as far as the HWY 88 exit and the crossover at Baker Hughes.

I believe there will be a new buildup of traffic at the crossover at Baker Hughes, causing an even larger problem. While a traffic light might solve some of the problem at the Baker Hughes crossover, no one will be able to make U-turns at this intersection (and I am sure many will be making such urnarounds). Furthermore, this means that 18 Wheelers attempting to access Delmar and Varco will be routed under the HWY 88 overpass or down Captain Cade Road (a very narrow road leading to residential and farm areas). None of the crossovers should be closed, but rather, the crossover at Captain Cade Road should receive the traffic light, not the crossover at Baker Hughes. I just do not understand why the Department of Transportation would close the busiest intersection and put a light at an intersection that only has traffic during rush hour. The Baker Hughes crossover is already dangerous, moreso than Captain Cade Road I believe. Several times I have encountered 18 Wheelers crossing to go westbound on HWY 90, but having to stop and wait to cross; meanwhile, the 19 Wheelers' trailer lingers in the left lane of the eastbound side. The state Department of Transportation needs to reevaluate their plans for traffic in our area.

Jarred James Breaux