FAST Act could provide cash for I-49, LA 1

Princess Power
December 9, 2015
Loretia Plemons
December 9, 2015
Princess Power
December 9, 2015
Loretia Plemons
December 9, 2015

On the night of Oct. 25, Louisiana Highway 1 closed down for 12 hours due to water on the road. Those 12 hours likely felt like an eternity for the nation’s energy industry.

A funnel system from the north came south and into the Gulf of Mexico, and then turned back up toward the coast, bringing strong winds and high tides with it, according to LA 1 Coalition Executive Director Henri Boulet. The highway was inundated and did not open up until the next morning after waters receded and workers could clear debris.


When the two-lane highway shuts down like that, the rest of the country is cut off from a major energy hub. La. 1 is the only land route to Port Fourchon and the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port. That route connects the rest of the country to 18 percent of the nation’s oil and gas supply, according to the LA 1 Coalition website.

The coalition is pushing to finish the La. 1 Improvement Project, a $1.7 billion, four-phase project that includes more than 15 miles of elevated highway. A recent congressional bill could mean good things for the improvement project.

President Obama signed the FAST Act on Friday after the bill passed both chambers of Congress on Thursday. The bill is a five-year federal highway-funding bill, the longest highway commitment since 1998. According to a news release from Congressman Garret Graves, R-South Louisiana, the bill will result in Louisiana getting up to $100 million more guaranteed in annual funding, as well as competitive grant opportunities valued at up to $1 billion each year.


Graves’s own amendments could give Louisiana a leg up in bringing some of those competitive grant dollars home. One amendment prioritized projects that would improve mobility to highways under the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects program. Another amendment allows projects that improve energy security to be considered under that same program. Boulet said that he sees La. 1 qualifying for that consideration.

“I think La. 1 is definitely going to be eligible for that as a critical rural freight corridor as well as the national highway performance program language kind of describing La. 1 as critical infrastructure,” Boulet said.

Graves noted highways in south Louisiana that need to be fixed, talking about how U.S. Highway 90 must be finished, as it provides a major trade corridor for the state and the country. Graves said when he finished negotiating the energy security amendment in the bill, he gave a speech on the floor mentioning La. 1 and its importance. The congressman said that the highway’s current vulnerability must be addressed.


“One of the nation’s most important energy infrastructure areas is accessible by a two-lane road that goes underwater when the wind blows,” Graves said.

The La. 1 Improvement Project is currently in its second phase, with an estimated cost of $346 million. Phase 2 is aimed at adding 8.3 miles of a two-lane elevated highway from Golden Meadow to Leeville. According to Boulet, the highway will be 17 feet, higher than FEMA’s Base Flood Elevation of 14 feet for the area. With an additional five feet of bridge deck, vehicles will be 22 riding feet above sea level. Boulet said the elevated highway would be critical to stabilizing the national energy market after storms.

“Having the elevated highway completed, we won’t have to wait for days to get back down there. We’ll be able to get back down there the day after the storm, and have the port do the tremendous role it does in supporting industry to reactivate Gulf energy production and calm national markets, which benefits everyone,” Boulet said.


Graves said he brought Bill Shuster, R-Pennsylvania, down to Louisiana this year so the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman could see the state’s highway issues for himself.

“You can go to most of the 50 states where there are problems with traffic. We tried to highlight some of the uniqueness of the problems here and why it’s a big priority,” Graves said.

As most congressional bills are products of compromise, it did include provisions that Graves did not approve of. The country plans to sell 66 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to raise $6.2 billion to pay for part of the bill. Graves said that an “accounting gimmick” credits the sales above $90 a barrel, well above the current market rate of about $40 a barrel.


Congressman Charles Boustany, a Republican from Lafayette, worked with Graves on the bill, and he took issue with the SPR sales, as well.

“In a time when many throughout the energy sector are struggling, I do not understand why the federal government would further flood the oil market, which will only harm our domestic industry and the families it employs,” Boustany said. “Only in Congress could you attempt to justify the policy of ‘buy high, sell low’ and get away with it.”

Regardless of what provided the money, Boulet said his coalition would be working with state officials to bring some of it to La. 1 as soon as possible.


“We want to complete this project to contribute toward the longstanding sustainability of our community. It’s so important for jobs, for community retention,” Boulet said. “You have to have jobs for a community to survive. Fourchon hosts a tremendous amount of jobs for the region.” •

Louisiana highway projects, like the I-49 corridor, could get a boost after the FAST Act was signed into law. The bill boosts guaranteed funding in Louisiana and provides grant opportunities for projects.

KARL GOMMEL | THE TIMES


The La. Highway 1 suffered a washout after Hurricane Isaac. A 2011 DHS study estimated a $7.8 billion loss in the country’s GDP is the road shuts down for 90 days.

FILE | THE TIMES