LA 1 Coalition applying for $300M max in TIGER grant

The application by the LA 1 Coalition for federal stimulus money to build the Leeville to Golden Meadow stretch of the new LA 1 Expressway received support from the Houma- Thibodaux Metropolitan Planning Organization last week at the board’s meeting in Gray.

The coalition is applying for $300 million-the maximum allowed-in TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grants, said LA 1 Coalition Executive Director Henri Boulet.

The board passed a resolution supporting the application.

The cost to build the stretch of elevated road will be $330 million, according to the resolution.

The federal Department of Transportation received $1.5 billion in TIGER grants under the stimulus bill for distribution. The grants are intended for larger transportation projects in the country, board members said.

Boulet said building the LA 1 Expressway should qualify since the road services a significant portion of the nation’s oil production.

“We feel we have a need,” he said, but cautioned that competition for the TIGER money will be fierce.

The state Department of Transportation and Development is submitting the extension of Interstate 49 from Shreveport to the Arkansas line for TIGER funding, according to Boulet.

Also at the meeting, MPO administrator Leo Marretta said contracts for installation of Phase III of the Houma Intelligent Transportation System will soon be let.

The construction is being funded with $1.6 million in federal and $400,000 in state funds, Marretta said.

The technology will improve functioning of traffic lights and allows preemption for emergency vehicles. Phase IV will include installing surveillance cameras.

The fiber-optic backbone has already been installed. The system will operate along La. Highway 24 from U.S. Highway 90 to past Prospect Street; all of Hollywood Road and Barrow Street; and parts of New Orleans Boulevard, La. Highway 311, and La. Highway 661.

Marretta also said that the cost to widen La. Highway 57 increased from $6.5 million to $12 million and the construction cost on the Prospect Street Bridge rose to $28 million from $13 million. The board was required to pass a motion supporting the change, Marretta said.

Darius Bonton with Burkhart Horne engineers told the board another east-west hurricane evacuation route is under consideration by the state for the south central Louisiana area.

Two routes following La. Highway 1 are being considered, along with the other east-west route. Both east-west routes would connect to La. Highway 70.

Bonton said environmental issues have delayed construction of a new hurricane evacuation route.