To the Lafitte Greenway community:

These past months, we have seen the long-standing racial inequities in our country and our community laid bare: in the deadly racial disparities in COVID-19’s impact for Black New Orleanians, in the horrific killing of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and so many more Black Americans before them.

As stewards of a public space, we must engage with this reality: Institutional and structural racism plays out in our public spaces, and it is in our public spaces that people bravely stand up in protest to demand institutional change.

We stand with you in anguish, outrage, and solidarity. At the Greenway, we strive to intentionally build community across racial and ethnic differences, to create a space where Black people and all people of color feel safe and welcome. Yet we recognize, to create a truly equitable space, we have a lot of work to do at every level. Thank you to the leaders who have already stepped up to lead this change and who have challenged us to do better. 

We recommit ourselves to listening, and working to advance our core value of equity on the Greenway, in New Orleans, in America. 

-The Friends of Lafitte Greenway Team

Pictured Above: Mural on Lemann Pool by Young Artist Movement, lead artist Keith Duncan, Welcome Table New Orleans, and hundreds of community volunteers (Credit: YAM)

This June through August, temporary bike/pedestrian detours will go into effect on the Lafitte Greenway in the N. Broad to N. Jefferson Davis portion of the trail. The detours are designed to enable safe and continuous trail use while Department of Public Works’ (DPW) contractors, Command Construction, tie new, upsized drainage lines into the St. Louis Canal as part of the City’s Hagan-Lafitte Drainage Upgrades and Green Infrastructure Project.

Friends of Lafitte Greenway has been working closely with the DPW and Command Construction teams to minimize impacts of this important green- and grey-infrastructure drainage project on Lafitte Greenway trail use. To that end, the temporary detours are made of asphalt with gentle curves to ensure safety and ease for Greenway users on foot, bike, and in wheelchairs. Pictured below is an example of 1 of these 4 temporary detours:

By Katherine Hart 

May 13, 2020

A ray of good news has appeared through the gloom of the coronavirus pandemic: More New Orleanians are getting on their bikes and enjoying local trails and greenspace.

It’s a phenomenon many have noticed since the stay-at-home restrictions began, whether they’re among those getting out to exercise or among those observing the world from their porch or front window . Now there’s data to support it. A sustained rise in biking and walking counts has been recorded throughout the stay-at-home order by the University of New Orleans Transportation Institute.

The institute records data on pedestrian and bicycle activity from permanent, continuous counters in key locations throughout the region .

“It appears that many people are discovering or rediscovering the bicycle during this time of significantly disrupted travel behaviors and traffic patterns,” said Tara Tolford, research associate and pedestrian and bicycle outreach coordinator at UNO Transportation Institute.

By: Kathy Finn | May 31, 2019

Source: MyNewOrleans.com | Full Article

In a city where land available for commercial development is scarce, it is refreshing to see a strip of green space not only preserved, but transformed into a magnet for new activity, which is what is happening along the corridor that stretches from New Orleans’ Treme neighborhood through Mid-City.

The former railroad right-of-way now known as Lafitte Greenway is slowly becoming an oasis of outdoor fun and relaxation thanks to a 2.6-mile bicycle path, with playgrounds and pedestrian-friendly features that have taken shape there. Since the corridor’s opening in 2015, about 320,000 cyclists and pedestrians access the greenway annually, according to automated people counters monitored by local researchers.

Now, developers who recognize the growing appeal of the green space have begun re-purposing adjacent sites and renovating ramshackle structures into new housing, cafés and bars, with plans to make the Greenway a place where people will routinely come for a refreshing break in the heart of a bustling city.