Our national economy is unofficially in recession, but Houma does not show any sign of slowing down. Considering our city’s steady stream of new construction projects, I’m surprised not to see tree huggers protesting the loss of nutria playgrounds. For years, people have repeated the same corny catchphrase: “Lafayette is the next New Orleans, and Houma is the next Lafayette!” But thanks to Houma’s newfound traffic problems, the excitement first expressed by the New Orleans/Lafayette declaration has given way to disillusionment and cynicism.
Years ago, when Old Navy opened on Martin Luther King, the chain was at its height in popularity; the retailer was incredibly modern for Houma. Soon the shopping gods bestowed Target and Best Buy (my home away from home) upon us, and Houma now features chain stores ranging from Sam’s Club to Hobby Lobby. We are finally becoming a big city, a fact proven by our sudden abundance of chicken—Wing Stop, Official Wings, WOW Wingery, Chick-fil-A, and Buffalo Wild Wings are all within two minutes of each other. Between these five places and Popeye’s, the city of Houma could live off chicken for a week. But our newfound abundance of shopping and greasy food has come with a price: our city’s roadways were not ready for the expansion, and now we are dealing with the consequences.
Why weren’t Houma’s roads prepared for the traffic that came with expansion? How many flowcharts were needed to illustrate much of Houma would become a constipated road jam? Multiple business permits were approved for the Martin Luther/Corporate/Enterprise shopping megaplex, yet the roads are ridiculously inadequate. Martin Luther is a five-lane raceway, and Corporate Drive is a two-lane go-kart track with more curves than Angelina Jolie. Just a mile or two from this stupidity, Highway 311 is now the main artery for multiple businesses, neighborhoods, and work commutes; yet the road itself is still merely a two-lane sugarcane tractor access road, just like it was decades ago. A recent “solution” was to add a left-turn lane in front the Sugarwood subdivision. Apparently, other neighborhoods weren’t important enough for this gesture.
I understand that Houma needs time and money to resolve its roadway issues, but shortsighted civil engineering has been compounded by a problem that average citizens can correct. All of us drivers must accept that urban growth includes traffic jams. Driving down Martin Luther King on a busy day is frightening because it seems as if nobody can mentally handle the traffic itself. Reckless drivers swerve around others and pull out in front oncoming vehicles. I have also noticed an increase in people illegally using shoulders as passing lanes, simply because they hate waiting an extra five seconds for another driver to make a left turn.
A few days ago, a Houma native who moved back from California told me he blames inexperience for the increase in irresponsible driving. According to his theory, Houma has grown so suddenly that its citizens are not familiar enough with constant traffic to drive safely. Obviously, we cannot blame recklessness completely on inexperience; the majority of us have driven in other cities. But this is the first time many of us contend with traffic every day of the year.
Despite our traffic troubles, we are blessed to live in an area experiencing growth while other parts of America downsize. I believe our current road issues are nothing more than short-term growing pains. Everyone is frustrated with the congested roadways resulting from insufficient planning; but no one can deny the traffic is here, and now we have to deal with it. At least we can guess when our roads will be improved: as always, construction will probably begin around Christmas and Mardi Gras.
© timothy samaha | first published in pov magazine in houma, louisiana
