Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ proposed construction budget for next year, House Bill 2, doesn’t contain any line-item funding for new infrastructure projects in the Capital Region, despite an organized push by both the Capital Region Legislative Delegation and business and industry groups for the inclusion of three major highway projects that would address the region’s chronic gridlock.
“This is the first time since 2008 that the Capital Region did not get any new funding for newly submitted projects,” says Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, who heads the regional delegation.
HB 2 contains $2.35 billion worth of building, road, bridge and highway projects, $1.38 billion of which are in line to receive funding this year. It includes several ongoing projects for the Capital Region but makes no mention of the three new megaprojects identified by the local delegation and industry lobbyists as key to addressing gridlock. They include: the widening of Interstate 10 in Ascension Parish, the widening of I-10 through Baton Rouge and a new Mississippi River Bridge south of Baton Rouge.
Members of the delegation, who presented their wish list to Edwards in a carefully choreographed presentation on March 22, requested a total of $20.5 million for pre-construction work on those three projects. The lawmakers did not expect any of the projects to get funded this year but were hopeful the projects would make it into onto the list so they could be eligible for funding next year. They are not happy about the omission.
“I’m not at all excited about the projects that made it into HB 2, especially when in previous conversations with the administration we’ve heard about how important it is to address our traffic and infrastructure problems,” says Rep. Ted James, D-Baton Rouge. “I’ve reached out to the administration to speak with them about some of our capital outlay projects and what we can do to get them added back in.”
Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne, Edwards’ chief budget adviser, says the projects—all long-term, big-ticket items that will cost many billions of dollars—are not included in the bill because, quite simply, the state has not identified funding for them.
“We’re looking at projects that can be funded immediately in the capital outlay bill, and we’re not putting projects in there just to get a complete wish list like it’s been in the past,” Dardenne says. “It’s going to be projects that can be funded and can move or have already started moving. The big megaprojects, we don’t have the funding for those in place right now.”
Still, the administration is committed to doing preconstruction work on the three highway projects, according to Louisiana Transportation and Development Secretary Shawn Wilson. He notes that HB 2 contains $55 million that is set aside for nonspecific highway projects, and he suggests some of that money could be directed toward the Capital Region projects.
That’s good news to lobbyist Scott Kirkpatrick, who heads the industry-led group, CRISIS, which has been pushing for the highway projects. Still, he says a project’s chances of getting funded are better if it is spelled out in the capital outlay bill.
“Typically, the best thing is for the administration to put your project in as a line item in capital outlay because that gives it the best chance for funding,” he says. “But as long as we get the money to expedite the projects, that’s all the matters. We don’t care where it comes from.”
A spokeswoman for the Edwards administration also notes that the governor is confident the state will receive federal grant funds to complete ongoing work on I-10 from I-49 to the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, which would free up state funds that will be directed to other projects in the Capital Region. Those projects include relocating the Washington Street exit on I-10, addressing the portion of I-10 East in Baton Rouge that narrows to a single lane and the New Orleans-Baton Rouge passenger rail line.
“Those are projects specific to the Capital Region,” says Edwards spokeswoman Shauna Sanford. “But his commitment is to improve infrastructure throughout the state.”
—Stephanie Riegel
