The Cost of Missed
Opportunities
In the 1950's and 1960's,
Lafayette missed opportunities when the Feds constructed I-10. Fault
lies with voters and city leaders alike. The price for missed
opportunities can be illustrated in two current infrastructure
needs.
1) The Loop
Then - An attempt was
made to raise census numbers to qualify for a connecting loop by
annexing areas in south Lafayette. The Chamber of Commerce and city
worked together to annex the areas to reach the 50,000 population
level necessary by the 1960 census. A lawsuit was filed (reportedly
by a supporter of the investor owned utility serving this area), and
the final annexation was delayed until the lawsuit was ruled
invalid. By then, the official census had been tallied and
Lafayette had fallen short of the 50,000 population threshold.
Lake Charles got it done,
Lafayette didn’t.
Now - Over a billion
dollars will be required to build a loop connecting I-10 to the I-
49 corridor.
2) I-10 frontage roads
Then - Lafayette
declined I-10 frontage roads fearing business would relocate from
downtown. As the 1970's approached, many businesses left the
downtown area for the Oil Center, Johnston Street and the Acadiana
Mall area. Businesses followed the new rooftops.
Within a few years downtown
Lafayette was struggling and only a revitalization effort in the
1990’s brought downtown back to life.
Now – $15 million plus
will be required to build I-10 frontage roads in Lafayette.
In the 1890's Lafayette fought
for the opportunity to establish a municipally owned utility to
bring electricity, thirty years before the private companies
intended. We vote on July 16th to establish a municipally
owned telecommunications company to provide state-of-the-art
telecommunication infrastructure and service with no such plan being
proposed by current providers.
LUS owns and operates the
fiber optic loop around Lafayette. The initial investment has been
made. If we don’t take the initiative to walk through the door of
opportunity, it will slam shut, never to be opened in again. Why?
Because the incumbents are closing the legal doors of opportunity as
fast as they can lobby and lawyer their way through the state and
federal legislatures to prohibit municipally owned utilities from
legal participation in the telecommunication industry.
I believe the LUS system will
foster competition, invite technology advancement and help create
opportunity for our children, here in Lafayette for years to come.
Our responsibility as owners
of LUS is to walk through the door of opportunity.
If the door is closed, choice
will be determined elsewhere, by others and not based on a Lafayette
plan for the future. Unlike LUS, their system will be closed to
others because of caveats penned into the Telecommunications Act
just last year.
When someone says, “you don’t
need this technology today”, remember we didn’t need a loop around
Lafayette, or frontage roads along I- 10, and in 1900, only one
light bulb per household was deemed necessary. I support the LUS
initiative along with many others. We all believe there is more
risk in fear and delay than taking advantage of this opportunity on
July 16.
Don Bertrand
Lafayette, LA
