A hearing of the Legislative Joint Transportation, Highway and Public Works committee scheduled for later today may not seem to have much relevance to Baton Rouge, as the debate—expected to get heated—will be over imposing a 45-cent toll on a proposed Intracoastal Canal bridge in Belle Chasse on New Orleans’ lower west bank.
But the business community and advocates of transportation infrastructure investment in the Capital Region are closely watching the hearing because of the implications it could have for plans for a new Mississippi River Bridge in Baton Rouge.
The $125 million Belle Chasse project has been in the planning for more than a year since the state was awarded a $45 million competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to build the new span, which would replace a 60-year-old tunnel and an aging draw bridge.
State and local leaders worked to put together a public-private partnership, securing an additional $40 million in federal funds, state money, and a deal with a private entity, headed by national engineering firm Plenary, to build and operate the bridge.
Earlier this year, lawmakers agreed to impose a 45-cent toll in each direction on the new bridge to help offset the cost. Under the terms of the deal, the private entity would keep the tolls as a way of recouping its investment.
But it’s an election year and political opposition in Plaquemines Parish has been building in recent weeks to the tolls, which are essential if the project is to move forward. At today’s hearing state lawmakers are expected to reconsider a deal that is, essentially, already done. If they kill it, the project dies—and Baton Rouge’s hopes for a new bridge funded by tolls could be impacted, according to transportation lobbyist Scott Kirkpatrick, executive director of CRISIS.
“This has been held out as the future for bridge tolling efforts so we are watching it closely and hoping it can get through the process,” Kirkpatrick says. “If it is unable to move forward, the pilot will be perceived as a failure.”
Also if it fails, Louisiana would likely have to return the federal funds it has secured for the project, which could greatly hamper its ability to secure infrastructure funding in the future.
“That is not a good signal to send,” Kirkpatrick says.
The hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the John Hainkel Room at the Capitol.
