Being a kid in Louisiana is full of special experiences. Most children look forward to crawfish boils in the spring, snowballs in the summer, and football tailgates in the fall. If you grew up here, you might have your own fond memories of these fun times. But what’s not-so-great about growing up in Louisiana? Having to ride along our terrible roads and bridges is a definite drawback. They might not be driving yet, but our children are still affected by the state of Louisiana’s streets. Our children need better roads today and for their future tomorrow. Let’s fix Louisiana’s roads for them.
How Bad Roads Affect Our Kids Today
These days, growing up is hard enough for kids. It seems like bullies and schoolwork are more difficult than ever to navigate for these young minds. Why should we add more to the pressures of being a kid? It might be easy to assume that deteriorating roads and bridges only affect the drivers. However, there are effects for our children too.
- Their Time: We often cite the amount of time drivers waste because of Louisiana’s terrible roads. It’s as much as two whole days a year, depending on where you live. The more your commute is affected by failing roads or close bridges, the less time you get to spend doing other things. Like spending time with your kids.
- Their Safety: We hate to think about it, but it’s a reality. Bad roads endanger our family’s well-being and safety. In Louisiana, 26% of our roads are failing and 35 of our bridges had to close in 2019. What’s worse, car accidents are a leading cause of death among children in the United States. And bad roads lead to more accidents. Let’s get our roads and bridges back up to par to keep our children safe.
How Bad Roads Affect Our Kids’ Future
If we don’t fix Louisiana’s roads now, when will we? As bad as they are now, they’re only going to get worse. We’d be leaving a huge mess behind for our children to fix. And shouldn’t we leave the world better than when we found it?
Also, bad roads keep Louisiana poor by driving away businesses and visitors. Not fixing them will make it harder for our kids to drive on as they get older (and make them waste their future time and money). It will also make it harder to live and work in Louisiana, driving residents and tourists away. Infrastructure such as roads and bridges affects our quality of life. In Louisiana, the quality of life will deteriorate along with our roads and bridges. If that happens, what kind of future will our kids—and all of Louisiana—have?
Tell Your Lawmakers To Fix Our Roads
Don’t leave your kids a horrible legacy. It’s time to take action! Join the Louisiana Coalition to Fix our Roads in demanding our lawmakers address these important issues. Use our easy and fast online form to tell your legislators to fix our roads and bridges. Join the conversation on social media—we’re on Facebook and Twitter and use the hashtag #FixLARoads. We need a special session this year. It’s reaching crisis levels, and we can’t ignore the problem any longer. Let’s #FixLARoads, for us—and for our children.