The failure of efforts to boost state aid for roads and bridges means key projects statewide will be slowed, Louisiana’s transportation chief said July 7.
“My struggle is without funds we probably don’t need to be advancing all these projects to the next stage,” said Shawn Wilson, secretary for the state Department of Transportation and Development.
The sponsor of a failed bill to raise Louisiana’s gas tax said July 31 the state should consider other options to improve roads and bridges, including the already-stressed general fund.
Rep. Steve Carter, (R-Baton Rouge), said while the state faces a $1.2 billion “fiscal cliff” next year, that shortfall should be raised to $1.7 billion to address pressing transportation needs.
Infrastructure on the nation’s inland waterways needs an investment boost. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates $4.9 billion is needed in the next 20 years to improve locks and dams across the country.
Louisiana is struggling with the aging waterway infrastructure and often has a backlog of ships waiting in its harbors. “It could be two to four days waiting to lock through,” said Vic Landry, USACE operations project manager in Louisiana.
Louisiana regulators Sept. 20 allowed more companies to haul toxic waste in the state.
But the Public Service Commission did not go as far as a newly passed state law demands, which will force the courts, ultimately, to decide how to handle hazardous leftovers from industry and the oilfield.
Voting 4-0, the PSC updated trucking regulations that were first passed to counter the helter-skelter dumping of hazardous waste, which became a problem in the 1970s.
While Louisiana road and bridge needs poured in to a key legislative committee Oct. 12, prospects for any sweeping changes are bleak.
Shawn Wilson, secretary for the state Department of Transportation and Development, told the House and Senate transportation committees that Louisiana has $691 million this year for transportation improvements and a $13.1 billion backlog.
“We have a wheel barrel full of needs and a thimble-full of money,” Wilson said.
Louisiana officials agree that the state’s roads need fixing. Beyond that, though, they can’t seem to agree on what to do about it. But they did make some progress earlier this month toward a solution when the state’s voters approved a constitutional amendment to safeguard any money raised by new gas taxes.
The country’s regulatory agency for trucks and buses has a new deputy administrator in Cathy Gautreaux.
This month, Gautreaux, formerly the executive director for the Louisiana Motor Transport Association with experience in national affairs through work with American Trucking Associations, took on the No. 2 spot at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Gautreaux
Seven months after their push for a hike in the state gas tax died, road and bridge advocates are scrambling to see what, if any, other options are available for traffic relief.
“It is a quality-of-life issue in Louisiana, especially in the capital region,” said House Transportation Committee Chairman Kenny Havard, (R-St. Francisville).
“We don’t have a choice,” Havard said. “We have to fix it.”
