Louisiana Transportation Research Center

10/27/2026

All shades of pink, one important cause! 🩷 Our team is wearing pink today in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to show support for everyone impacted by breast cancer.

10/26/2026

🔎 Spotted! Our own Gavin Gautreau, P.E., sharing his expertise with the WBRZ news crew on the LA 415 Connector project!

Engineers tests soil for La. 415 connector construction to begin

10/23/2026

🎬 New Video Summary: "Best Practices for Maintenance of Control-of-Access Fencing"
📄LTRC Project No. 23-8SS • Final Report 706

Control-of-Access (C-of-A) fencing, recommended by AASHTO for both fully and partially managed highways, is an essential highway infrastructure component that enhances safety, security, and operational efficiency by preventing unauthorized access and reducing wildlife and pedestrian incidents. Despite its critical role, C-of-A fencing maintenance faces significant challenges in Louisiana. This research study examined current practices and challenges in C-of-A fencing maintenance along highways, focusing on DOTD.

💻: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtlnSOHVWTk

10/15/2026

📢 LTC hotel room blocks are filling quickly! Join us March 7-10, 2027, at Baton Rouge's Raising Cane's River Center for LTC '27 "Transforming Transportation: Moving Louisiana Forward."

💻Register today:
🔗: https://www.ltrc.la.gov/ltc_27/registration.html

🛎️Reserve your hotel:
🔗: https://www.ltrc.la.gov/ltc_27/acc.html

👩‍💻Join the tradeshow:
🔗: https://www.ltrc.la.gov/ltc_27/exhibitors.html

🧑‍💼Become a sponsor:
🔗: https://www.ltrc.la.gov/ltc_27/sponsors.html

We hope to see you there!

10/01/2026

📢 New Research Project Underway: "Geotechnical Database Phase VI: Enhancing Public Access and Utilizing Artificial Intelligence to Digitize and Grow the Louisiana Database" by Nick Ferguson, P.E.

This research will enable DOTD to improve public transparency and access to valuable geotechnical information by converting historical documents into a structured, searchable, and accessible format. It will also provide DOTD personnel, consultants, engineers, planners, and other stakeholders with standardized tools for locating, reviewing, analyzing, and sharing geotechnical data. By reducing the need for manual data extraction and document searches, the framework will save time and resources, improve data consistency and informed decision-making, and help preserve valuable historical information. The resulting search and visualization tools will support more efficient project planning, infrastructure maintenance, design, and development.

🔗: https://new.express.adobe.com/webpage/IoUnh3F5ltLYm

09/23/2026

🔍 New Study Published: "Statewide Non-Motorized Traffic Monitoring Study" by Ruijie “Rebecca” Bian, Ph.D., P.E.

The growing emphasis on creating a multimodal transportation system in the U.S. requires high-quality multimodal traffic data for planning success. This research investigated strategies for integrating non-motorized (e.g., bicyclist and pedestrian) traffic monitoring into routine motorized traffic monitoring practices in Louisiana.

🔗: https://new.express.adobe.com/webpage/RevOFZm85adTf

09/21/2026

🔍 New Study Published: "Trip Generation for Various Sites" by
Ruijie “Rebecca” Bian, Ph.D., P.E.

The purpose of this project was to determine whether ITE trip rates, published in the ITE Trip Generation Manual, are appropriate for use in Louisiana for a selection of land use types. Based on previous work conducted by LTRC for strip malls, it was anticipated that the published trip rates may not be applicable in Louisiana for a number of different land use types, six of which are investigated in this project (i.e., apartment complexes, urgent care facilities, dollar stores, car washes, drive-thru banks, and drive-thru daiquiri/boil shops). Further, the rates may be affected by contextual factors not included in the ITE Manual.

🔗: https://new.express.adobe.com/webpage/GHFXB5TtK2A6Y

09/17/2026

Happy Workforce Development Day! At LTRC, our team helps thousands of transportation professionals each year expand their skills, learn new technologies, and stay current in an ever-changing industry. From engineering and safety to IT, leadership, software, and professional development, our programs give Louisiana’s transportation workforce opportunities to grow.

Today, we’re celebrating our team, our instructors, our partners, and the professionals who make workforce development possible.

09/16/2026

🔍 New Study Published: "Truck Parking Shortage: Improving Efficiency and Identifying Opportunities" by Bethany Stich, Ph.D. and Faisal Mallum, Ph.D. with the UNO Transportation Institute.

This study evaluated truck parking conditions in Louisiana to identify short-term operational improvements and long-term policy and planning solutions. The research incorporated a review of national best practices, stakeholder surveys and outreach, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial regulatory analyses, and an economic impact assessment to assess the development of truck parking and the associated cost of not investing in parking facilities.

Findings provide actionable recommendations for state and local government officials and freight stakeholders in Louisiana.

🔗: https://new.express.adobe.com/webpage/eDIKWuFPAN08

09/15/2026

LTRC research was recently featured in TRB Weekly! 🚧 The featured research, "LiDAR for Geotechnical Applications," focused on the utilization of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology within DOTD for various geotechnical applications.

Read the full research study:
https://www.ltrc.la.gov/pdf/2026/FR_727.pdf