State panel looks for ways to fix roads

A special panel, the Transportation Funding Task Force, which includes legislative leaders and others, is about to launch a study of ways to boost state aid for Louisiana's often-criticised road and bridge system. "There is not a legislator across the state that does not have some kind of issue with getting a project done, starting a project, finishing a project," said state Representative Karen St Germain, chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee and a member of the panel.
September 4, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

A special panel, the Transportation Funding Task Force, which includes legislative leaders and others, is about to launch a study of ways to boost state aid for Louisiana's often-criticised road and bridge system.

"There is not a legislator across the state that does not have some kind of issue with getting a project done, starting a project, finishing a project," said state Representative Karen St Germain, chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee and a member of the panel.
St Germain said that, unlike previous road funding studies and bills that went nowhere; this one comes amid a widespread public outcry about road conditions.

The study comes at a time of both highway improvements, including in the Baton Rouge area, and a US$12 billion backlog of road and bridge needs.

6174 Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) officials say US$540 million has been spent on road and bridge upgrades since 2008 in East Baton Rouge Parish alone, mostly through surplus state dollars after hurricanes Katrina and Rita and federal stimulus dollars.

However, the Baton Rouge area is considered ground zero for motorists' complaints, including heavy congestion on and near the Interstate 10 Mississippi River bridge.

State Senator Robert Adley says one aim of the study is "to try to get everyone to understand how serious the problem is and how far behind we are."  Part of the problem, he said, is that few taxpayers realize how much money is diverted from the state's Transportation Trust Fund, the key source of road and bridge aid.

He has complained that US$60 million of state gasoline tax revenue yearly helps fund State Police at a time when the state cannot come up with at least US$70 million a year for road preservation.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Improving, integrating weather monitoring for safer roads
    February 6, 2012
    Paul Pisano, USDOT Federal Highway Administration, and Charles Harris, Noblis Inc, chart progress in the US of Maintenance Decision Support Systems for winter maintenance and weather management
    Read More
  • Frequency changes threaten vehicle safety applications
    January 24, 2012
    The use of frequency spectrum at 5.9GHz for vehicle safety applications is at risk because of two draft bills currently before Congress. Here, we look at why and what’s being done to address the issue. In the US, the right of cooperative infrastructure to use frequency at 5.9GHz is under threat as a result of the proposal of two bills in Congress. The chronology of spectrum allocation for Dedicated Short- Range Communications (DSRC)-based Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) and Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) safety a
    Read More
  • US road infrastructure ‘needs more technology’, says leading Republican
    February 8, 2019
    “America will never have the infrastructure system it needs and deserves if we don’t do a better job of incorporating technology,” said leading Republican Sam Graves. He leads the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the US House of Representatives and made the comments this week at a hearing entitled ‘The Cost of Doing Nothing: Why Investing in Our Nation’s Infrastructure Cannot Wait’. Ranking member Graves said: “Compared to other countries, our infrastructure is falling behind, and in so
    Read More
  • Obama to propose oil tax to fund transportation projects
    February 8, 2016
    President Obama is to propose a US$10 a barrel tax on crude oil to fund the overhaul of the US transportation infrastructure. White House officials say the president’s 21st Century Clean Transportation System, funded by a new fee paid by oil companies would increase American investments in clean transportation infrastructure by roughly 50 per cent while reforming the investments already made to help reduce carbon pollution, cut oil consumption and create new jobs. They say the new fee on oil will also en
    Read More

Highlighted Content