DOTD's bold new future

Funding questions raised after Katrina, Rita

By Johnny Bradberry, Secretary

The state Dept. of Transportation and Development and its industry partners started this fiscal year with an aggressive statewide construction program and a pumped-up TIMED program. These projects combined to give us planned lettings of approximately $1.3 billion, a figure that represents more than DOTD's entire 2003 budget, including construction.

Back in July, project managers were even talking about how to handle the inevitable competition among big-ticket projects (La. 1, the Huey Long Bridge, Florida Avenue Bridge, the St. Francisville-New Roads Bridge) for qualified companies, materials, supplies, equipment and manpower.

Then came Katrina, followed shortly by Rita. By mid-September, the questions concerning roads and bridges in Louisiana were 1) how much will it cost to repair and replace damaged roads and bridges? 2) who's going to pay for it? and 3) how will all of this affect the other projects in Louisiana? I'll try to answer each of those questions now.

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Total cost for replacing and repairing roads and bridges because of the hurricanes is about $1.1 billion, but that doesn't include damage to ports, navigational systems, airports, transit systems or rail lines.

It also doesn't include funds to help the Baton Rouge, Hammond and Lafayette areas cope with the traffic that resulted from a 30 to 40 percent increase in population because of the evacuations.

And it certainly doesn't include needed projects to protect our area from future events, such as elevating I-10/I-610 in the New Orleans area, widening the interstates in south Louisiana, building and improving hurricane evacuation routes such as I-49 South, La. 1 and a Houma-Thibodaux connector to I-10. The price tag for all of these projects is about $10.6 billion - real money.

Who will pay for this? We are working very closely with the Federal Highway Administration and FEMA to secure 100 percent financing on as much of this work as possible. These hurricanes represented an unprecedented event and a lot of what happens depends on Congress and its financial willingness to help us.

It is important that we keep this issue in front of Congress and that our voices be heard. We cannot afford for the rebuilding effort to be put on the Congressional back-burner.

How will this affect other projects in Louisiana? My intention is that DOTD will continue its statewide construction program and the TIMED program "full speed ahead." While I know that the entire state mourns the loss of life and devastation of property in south Louisiana, the pre-hurricane statewide needs are just as great today as they were years ago when the projects were still being planned.

The TIMED program will let three major bridge projects this year and will continue work on U.S. 165, U.S. 171, U.S. 167 and U.S. 425. We will let La. 1 this year, we will show progress on La. 28 from Alexandria to Fort Polk and we will keep working to connect Shreveport with Arkansas along I-49 North.

However, if Congress does not appropriate sufficient funds or if DOTD is forced to make a significant match on the emergency funds it receives, our regular program will be impacted. We will be forced to pay for emergency repairs and replacements with the state funds we intended to use on our statewide program.

That is why it is vitally important for all of us to do everything we can to make federal funding a high priority for Congress.

Of course, our industry partners are a key component to making all of this happen. That's why I consider it of utmost importance that we continue our open and frank dialogue about our infrastructure and the future of this state. I believe that hard times force hard decisions that define the future.

I am hopeful that, in this dark time in Louisiana history, we will move forward, together with confidence, to meet the challenges of rebuilding a great state.