U.S. Rep. Garret Graves is working to include funding in a federal spending bill that will help alleviate some of Baton Rouge’s chronic traffic gridlock. But the Republican congressman says the state will have to put up its share of transportation dollars as well and make the issue a top priority.
“The state is going to be the one that is going to have to prioritize the dollars and determine that this is the highest priority in the state of Louisiana,” Graves said following a luncheon speech to the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge. “That’s why I told the crowd in there that everyone needs to be paying attention to this. We need to make sure this process doesn’t get political to where people start siphoning dollars off for lower priority projects.”
Graves could not say how much money he will seek, and he was careful to point out that federal rules now prohibit earmarking dollars for specific projects. But he suggested there are ways to help steer federal funds toward certain areas.
“There are some unique situations related to the (Mississippi River) bridge here that I think we could capitalize on,” he said. “The fact that there is not another place in the country where the interstate drops down to one lane—we may be able to write in a provision that says any place in the country where the interstate drops down to a single lane is entitled to a certain amount of money or participation in a program.”
Graves told the Rotarians that Baton Rouge has the worst traffic in the nation for a city its size and that the situation is harming the region’s economy. He also said a new bridge across the river is the only sustainable long-term solution to the area’s incessant congestion.
“I think there are a number of interim solutions we could be working on, on a parallel track with a new crossing of the Mississippi River,” he said. “But long term, there is no surrogate. You absolutely have to do it.”
—Stephanie Riegel
