Louisiana is pushing the feds to give 150 million dollars in matching funds to the state to help construct an elevated roadway on LA Highway 1 from Golden Meadow to the Leeville Bridge in Lafourche Parish. State Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson says a several mile-long bridge over marshlands is needed to guarantee safe passage to Port Fourchon.
“By building this viaduct structure the way that we intend to it will be consistent with the overall plan and be elevated somewhere in the area of 12 to 15 feet above the marshland,” says Wilson.
Louisiana has already pumped over 300-million dollars into projects along that vital stretch of highway.
It doesn’t take much to make the current drive through that several mile stretch precarious, and Wilson says that’s not acceptable given Port Fourchon’s economic importance to the oil industry, and how it can cut off access to a beloved community.
“It’s a huge cultural designation spot with Grand Isle being south of the bridge, and that stretch is generally inundated with water from a north wind, and by natural disasters,” says Wilson.
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise is currently lobbying US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao for the funds.
HB 578 last year OK’d 150 million dollars in state funding for the project that Wilson says was planned as leverage for getting the federal matching funds. He’s optimistic about their chances.
“This is a project that enjoys tremendous Congressional, as well as local support, and we expect to be successful in asking for up to another 150 million dollars,” says Wilson.
There’s about 400 million dollars of work left to do, so if the federal matching funds are approved the state would still need to find some additional gap funding to finish the job.
