City breaks ground on 'shopping bypass' boulevard
BATON ROUGE - Construction will start soon on the long-awaited alternate route between I-10, the Mall of Louisiana, Perkins Rowe shopping center and Perkins Road.
The city broke ground on the Paulat Boulevard project at Perkins Rowe Thursday morning. Phase 1 will include an alternate access to Perkins Rowe from Perkins Road. Eventually, the street will connect to Mall of Louisiana Boulevard. Linking the two shopping centers will also give drivers access to I-10, allowing people to avoid Bluebonnet.
From Perkins Road, the street will begin between the Citizens Bank and Trust parking lot and Rod Laver Avenue. When it is fully complete, the boulevard will make a slight left turn, run over Dawson Creek and behind the Swaggart College connecting to Mall of Louisiana Boulevard.
The entire project won't be finished until January 2020 at an estimated cost of $37 million.
******************
Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltz