BATON ROUGE - Changes are coming to Pecue Lane between Highland and Airline, but some nearby residents are hesitant to embrace the new developments.

Along with the worries of additional traffic the Pecue Lane expansion project will inevitably bring into the area, homeowners in the Woodridge subdivision are concerned about the potential for flooding. Al Thibodeaux, HOA President for Woodridge, brought this to the attention of the Baton Rouge Planning Commission last March.

"I wish the planning commission could have directed things a little better to put the drainage into Ward Creek."

Thibodeaux wanted the drainage pipes to flow into Ward Creek. Instead, crews are installing pipes that will lead to a drainage ditch on the outskirts of the neighborhood.

Plans call for a new apartment complex, a Penske Truck Rental facility and a VA clinic to go up next door to Woodridge. 

"We already have erosion problems back there so the main concern was trying to get them to modify where they were going to put the drains for that Penske project," Thibodeaux said.

At a meeting Monday night, the planning commission went through with zoning the lot for commercial property, solidifying the plans for more development. 

While the homeowners may have lost that battle, they did achieve a small victory. Thibodeaux says he declined the developer's request to put an access point to the future VA clinic from the front of Woodridge. 

"We do own the property and since it's a public entity we do not have to sell. It's not as though they can invoke an imminent domain on us," Thibodeaux said. 

The Pecue Lane project in its entirety is projected to be completed in 2026.