Seven years in, Baton Rouge plans $33M more for MoveBR management

# What officials are voting on

# Where MoveBR stands now MoveBR began collecting a voter-approved half-cent sales tax in April 2019. The tax runs 30 years and is projected to finance more than $1 billion in road widenings, sidewalks, traffic signals and other transportation improvements. Through Dec. 31, MoveBR and related efforts reported $350.1 million in cumulative spending, of which $220.3 million is attributed specifically to MoveBR.

Project status at the end of 2025 shows 47 of 137 listed project phases complete, 23 phases in construction and 67 phases still in planning, design, right-of-way or utility work. That means nearly half the program's phases had not reached construction as of that snapshot.

# Why much of the work isn't visible yet Program managers and Councilwoman Laurie Adams point to the long lead time required before road widening can show up as finished pavement. Design, right-of-way acquisition, business valuations, railroad negotiations and utility relocations can each add months or years to a project schedule.

Adams said the city-parish lacks the internal volume of engineers and project managers to run a program of MoveBR's scale and cannot match private-sector salaries, which is why outside firms are necessary. Stantec program manager Mike Bruce described the company as effectively an extension of city-parish staff, moving projects through concept, engineering, right-of-way, utility relocation, bidding and construction management.

Westwood project manager Travis Woodard explained that capacity projects—widenings and new roads meant to relieve congestion—look especially slow because their required preconstruction steps are more complex. He said utility relocations and right-of-way work are now visible on several major projects.

# What to expect next Bruce said Stantec has completed about 58 smaller projects—sidewalks, accessibility upgrades and traffic projects—that move faster than corridor work. He expects most of Stantec's portfolio to be completed or under construction over the next two years, leaving mainly a handful of large corridor projects.

# Factors that slowed earlier progress Officials cited the COVID-19 pandemic for staffing shortages, supply-chain disruptions and surges in construction prices. Woodard also said pandemic-era traffic patterns disrupted traffic studies, delaying designs that depend on reliable travel data. Adams acknowledged that early ceremonial groundbreakings sometimes created public expectations before projects were ready for construction.

# Bottom line The city-parish plans to keep paying private program managers to carry MoveBR through lengthy preconstruction tasks and into construction. That payment plan reflects limited in-house capacity and the program's current project mix, which contains many large corridor projects that require extended planning, right-of-way and utility work before visible progress appears.