More federal funding sought for LA 1 project

LA 1 Coalition leaders are set to press the federal government for funds to complete the elevated Fourchon to Golden Meadow highway project, despite being denied earlier this year $300 million of federal stimulus money.

The latest request comes in the form of a $100 million grant application.

According to Henri Boulet, coalition director, the group is seeking a portion of the $600 million being distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Criteria in this round of funding may play to the project’s advantage, he said.

“Of the $600 million being disbursed here, at least $150 million must be spent in rural areas, of which our area classified nicely,” he said.

Boulet said the coalition’s request emphasizes the vital role LA 1 is playing in the environmental response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

“In this application, we also discussed how the highway is a critical route for delivery of up to 30 percent of the nation’s domestic seafood catch for up to nearly 30 percent of the natural gas production and distribution in the country,” he said.

The highway even provided President Barack Obama’s presidential motorcade a route to Fourchon Beach and Grand Isle on recent visits, Boulet said.

“In this request, we hope to convey the critical role that the highway has played and is playing in the oil spill, and how it has served as a lifeline and critical land route for the transportation of equipment, supplies and manpower to fight the spill,” he said.

One possible hitch in the request could be that the project has no guarantee of receiving a local funding match, usually considered a key component for matching federal dollars.

However, Boulet acknowledged the state is aware of the coalition’s grant request and is likely to be more inclined to provide matching dollars once the federal grant is secured.

If awarded, the grant is expected to be used in two phases of the project, which consists of an eight-mile stretch of elevated highway from Leeville north to Golden Meadow.

Pre-construction work – surveying, geo-technical work, pipeline relocation and the acquisition of rights-of-way – are well under way although no dedicated funding source for the construction has been solidified.

The first phase, which involved building the overpass in Leeville, and the second part phase one – erecting an elevated roadway between Port Fourchon and the overpass – is more than 60 percent complete, Boulet said.

Final plans call for the six-mile stretch of highway to open in November 2011.