The Lafitte Greenway is a trail for pedestrians and bicycles located in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, extending from

Louis Armstrong Park Louis Armstrong Park is a park located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street from the French Quarter. In the 1960s a controversial urban renewal project leveled a substantial portion of the Tremé neig ...

Bayou St. John Bayou St. John () is a bayou within the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. The Bayou as a natural feature drained the swampy land of a good portion of what was to become New Orleans, into Lake Pontchartrain. In its natural state, it extended much ...

and beyond. Opened in 2015, it is the latest reconfiguration of a historic transportation corridor that has been in use for over two centuries.

Description

The Lafitte Greenway extends 2.6 miles from the

Basin Street Basin Street or Rue Bassin in French, is a street in New Orleans, Louisiana. It parallels Rampart Street one block lakeside, or inland, from the boundary of the French Quarter, running from Canal Street down 5 blocks past Saint Louis Cemetery. It ...

trailhead A trailhead is the point at which a trail begins, where the trail is often intended for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or off-road vehicles. Modern trailheads often contain rest rooms, maps, sign posts and distribution centers for information ...

(located near the Municipal Auditorium in Armstrong Park) to the Alexander Street trailhead. Passing through the

Tremé Tremé ( ) is a neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana. "Tremé" is often rendered as Treme, and the neighborhood is sometimes called by its more formal French name, Faubourg Tremé; it is listed in the New Orleans City Planning Districts as Trem ...

, Lafitte, and Mid-City, the trail essentially connects neighborhoods from the

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Sq ...

to Lakeview.Laffite Greenway Bicycle and Pedestrian Path
from the City of New Orleans, retrieved May 16, 2016 Landscaping along the greenway includes native plantings and

bioswales Bioswales are channels designed to concentrate and convey stormwater runoff while removing debris and pollution. Bioswales can also be beneficial in recharging groundwater. Bioswales are typically vegetated, mulched, or xeriscaped. They consi ...

and has been the subject of proposals for innovative stormwater management. The

City of New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Robert Morris
"City officials celebrate grand opening of Lafitte Greenway bike path," ''Mid-City Messenger'', November 6, 2015 Construction of

Design Workshop Design Workshop is an international landscape architecture, land planning, urban design and strategic services firm that began in 1969. The firm was named ASLA's Firm of the Year in 2008 for its work in new communities, urban centers, resorts, publi ...

's award-winning plan was funded largely through Disaster Community Development Block Grants (CDBG-D) allocated after Hurricane Katrina, with the initial phase costing $9.1 million.

History

This area has served as a transportation corridor for New Orleans since at least 1794.The land presently occupied by the Greenway was previously used by the

Southern Railway (U.S.) The Southern Railway (also known as Southern Railway Company and now known as the Norfolk Southern Railway) was a class 1 railroad based in the Southern United States between 1894 and 1982, when it merged with the Norfolk & Western to form Nor ...

and before that by the

Carondelet Canal The Carondelet Canal, also known as the Old Basin Canal, was a canal in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A., operating from 1794 into the 1920s – nearly 135 years. Construction of the canal began in June 1794, on the orders of the Spanish Govern ...

. Before the

New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal (NOUPT) is an intermodal facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, US. Located at 1001 Loyola Avenue, it is served by Amtrak, Greyhound Lines, Megabus, and NORTA with direct connections to the Rampart–St. Claud ...

was built in 1954, this route was used to enable passenger trains of the Southern Railway (now Norfolk Southern Railway) to access the

Southern Railway Terminal (New Orleans) The Southern Railway Terminal, originally officially "New Orleans Terminal", in New Orleans was constructed by the Southern Railway in 1908 on the neutral ground of Basin Street at the intersection of Canal Street. The building was designed b ...

, which was located on Basin Street at Canal. Ideas for repurposing the land began to percolate in the 1970s from civil rights activists such as Rudy Lombard and in the work of architect

Clifton James George Clifton James (May 29, 1920 – April 15, 2017) was an American actor known for roles as a prison floorwalker in ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), Sheriff J.W. Pepper alongside Roger Moore in the James Bond films '' Live and Let Die'' (19 ...

.Lolis Eric Elie
"Public parkway through Treme and Mid-City on the drawing board," ''Times-Picayune'', September 5, 2009 The city sold a large portion of the land to the Louisiana Institute of Film Technology in early 2006. However, plans for a grand studio never materialized, and in 2010 the

Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...

brokered a deal which returned the land to public ownership. Starting in 2005, activists organized a series of annual hikes to raise awareness of the project, with hundreds of participants hiking each year over rough terrain on the site of the proposed trail.

Future plans

The City of New Orleans plans to extend the greenway another half-mile into the Lakeview neighborhood to Canal Boulevard. This stretch of trail would run alongside an active rail-line which services a local brickyard. Negotiations with Norfolk Southern are ongoing.

References

External links

Friends of Lafitte GreenwayOfficial listing from City of New Orleans
{{coord, 29, 58, 22, N, 90, 5, 29, W, region:US-LA, display=title Greenways Parks in New Orleans Norfolk Southern Railway Rail trails in Louisiana 2015 establishments in Louisiana

Description

History

Future plans

See also

References

External links