DENHAM SPRINGS, LA – Louisiana transportation officials confirmed the state’s newly deployed traffic AI was taken offline just 50 seconds into testing after it repeatedly recommended adding new interstate access at 4-H Club Road and Pete’s Highway.
The artificial intelligence had been introduced to help improve traffic flow along Interstate 12 through Denham Springs by identifying congestion and activating electronic message boards warning motorists of delays they had already been experiencing for several miles.
Instead, the system reportedly became distracted by the fact that nearly every commuter from Denham Springs, Watson, and several surrounding communities is funneled through the single Range Road interchange every morning while two nearby overpasses cross Interstate 12 without providing interstate access.
Engineers immediately classified the recommendation as “outside the intended scope of the project” before disconnecting the AI and returning it to its original assignment of informing completely stationary motorists that traffic was, in fact, backed up ahead.
Officials later clarified the computer had been purchased to recognize congestion, not question decades of transportation planning, or lack thereof.
Sources say the AI even pointed out that 4-H Club Road and Pete’s Highway remain almost completely undeveloped where they cross I-12, with virtually no existing infrastructure, businesses, or neighborhoods that would complicate construction of future exits and entrances. Officials reportedly disconnected the system moments later.
A DOTD spokesman later told The Sadvocate that an interchange at 4-H Club Road has not been ruled out. Officials simply want to wait until the new 2,000-plus-home subdivision approximately two miles away is completed and an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 additional commuters begin using the corridor. “We feel it’s important to hear their concerns first,” the spokesman said. “Once we’ve gathered enough public feedback, we’ll begin the standard 15-year feasibility study.”
