Louisiana could lose $45M infrastructure grant

A controversial debate among roadway tolls has the state of Louisiana in a position to lose a $45 million in federal grant funding to help aid a $156 million bridge and tunnel replacement. This infrastructure assistance is needed in the Plaquemines Parish area.

Louisiana’s Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Shawn Wilson expects that Louisiana would not be able to keep the grant due to the inability of collecting tolls. Mr. Wilson stated in an interview that, “The grant was contingent upon a public-private partnership that was going to generate tolls.” “This stipulation is consistent with what President Trump is in favor of.”

There has been a lot of expressed opposition for a new bridge with toll fees from local officials such as Plaquemines Parish President Kirk Lepine, the parish council, Rep. Chris Leopold, R-Belle Chasse, and Rep. Pat Connick. Currently, under the agreement proposed by DOTD, the residents would contribute in paying 45 cents per trip, with a 1 cent added increase per year for up to 30 years and commercial trucks would pay near $6.90.

Many of the local officials have mentioned a bill was approved by legislatures this year that redirects nearly $700 million from Louisiana’s BP spill settlement to major infrastructure projects throughout the state but none of these projects would take place in Plaquemines Parish, a parish that was directly affected by the spill. Another point made from opponents has been that a public-private partnership would drastically increase the project cost.

At the meeting this past September, one speaker suggested using the state’s $500 million + surplus to help fund the project but DOTD’s Secretary Wilson advised that this proposal would not meet the federal desire for net new revenue, thus leaving the state of Louisiana to foot the full cost of the project.

“So it’s a much larger chunk of the state surplus money that would be needed, or other one-time funds,” Wilson said. “As we take certain things off the table, there are certain restrictions that govern the funds.”

It has been noted that The Belle Chasse project isn’t the only state toll effort that hasn’t worked out according to plan. Since 2010, the Louisiana Transportation Authority has been collecting toll fees to help pay off the state’s debt that is linked to the $350 million bridge replacement on La. 1, a project that was deemed significant to Port Fourchon and the offshore oil industry.

With the revenue increase over the past two fiscal years due to toll fee increases along with heavier bridge traffic, it is still not enough. The toll fees from La. 1 were supposed to cover the full debt and operating expenses, but state lawmakers have had to arrange and come up with the extra $2 to $5 million annually to ensure the debt payments all the while subsidizing the operations according to Wilson.

Mr. Wilson continues to believe that public-private partnerships will be an important tool in the funding of Louisiana’s infrastructure projects, but expresses that DOTD will respect the fact that there are some communities that oppose tolls therefore the residents may not get the type of infrastructure system they would like to have.

At this time, there has yet to be a follow up meeting between Mr. Wilson and the Joint Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee to discuss the next step in the Plaquemines Parish project.


*Article contribution to David Jacobs, The Center Square