Staff writer West Bank runners dogged by fast vehicular traffic on their training runs might want to try this smooth, flat, lightly trafficked, 5.4-mile course at Bayou Segnette State Park in Westwego. Enter the park from the West Bank Expressway. The first right turn after the entrance brings drivers to the picnic parking lots where runners can start. From the picnic areas run counterclockwise over a wooden bridge through a cane break and past the wavepool. At the divided highway turn right, running under the Lapalco Boulevard overpass, then turn left.
Runners are now on a dead-end road a little more than a mile long.
There is a low levee and the quiet Marcello Canal to the east, and there are woods to the west. Turn right into the campground, run that mile, then exit right for the run past the park's cabins and the turnaround. Return to the highway overpass and continue on the four-lane to the picnic area entrance. The park's 15-mph speed limit is strictly enforced. Runners are asked to stay off the grass levees and berms.