Louisiana’s roads, highways, and bridges form vital transportation links for the state’s residents, visitors, and businesses, making the condition of our roads a focal point for many. Not only does our transportation quality reflect potential economic advances, but our roads provide daily access to homes, jobs, commerce, natural resources and recreation, and emergency services required by Louisiana’s growing population. The state’s population grew to approximately 4.6 million residents in 2020, a 4% increase since 2000. Louisiana’s motorists and businesses require a high level of personal and commercial mobility. Taking into consideration the amount of water area, this makes repairing our bridges a critical part of future growth in population, tourism, business, recreation, and vehicle travel. Improving transportation funding is critical for Louisiana’s future.

Modernizing Louisiana’s transportation system is critical to quality of life and economic competitiveness present in the Pelican State. Inadequate transportation investment year over year results in deteriorated infrastructure and quality of life and economic growth. Unfortunately, the problem with transportation funding has fallen to the wayside, and we can no longer afford to ignore the crucial task of modernizing our roads and bridges. 

The Hidden Cost of Deficient Roads  

Driving on Louisiana roads that are deteriorating, congested, and lack important safety features cost motorists a total of $7.6 billion annually. On average, drivers in Baton Rouge pay a total of $2,431 in vehicle operations and repairs, wasted fuel due to congestion, and traffic crashes while drivers in New Orleans pay $2,403 on average. Due to inadequate state and local funding, nearly half of major roads and highways in Louisiana are in poor or mediocre condition. Driving on rough roads costs a driver more annually than a road in good condition. In North Louisiana, Shreveport faces the worst percentage of poor roadways at 45% and contains the least amount of “good” roads at 17%. 

The costs of deficient roads continues to be a burden on Louisiana drivers. During the Covid-19 pandemic, vehicle travel in Louisiana dropped as much as 36 percent, reducing congestion substantially; however, traffic has increased by 30% since 2020. Congested roads choke commuting and commerce and cost Louisiana motorists $3 billion annually in the form of wasted fuel. In the state’s most congested areas, drivers lose up to $1,312, spend as much as 60 extra hours per year on the roads, and waste 26 gallons due to congestion. 

Traffic Safety Presents a Huge Hazard to Louisiana Drivers  

In Louisiana, a total of 3,738 people were killed due to traffic crashes from 2015-2019, an average of 748 fatalities per year. Traffic crashes imposed a total of $6.8 billion in economic costs in 2019 and traffic crashes in which a lack of adequate roadway safety features, while not the primary factor, likely contributed to $2.3 billion in losses. 

Three major factors are associated with fatal vehicle crashes: driver behavior, vehicle characteristics like dependency, and roadway features. It is estimated that roadway features are likely a contributing factor in around one-third of all fatal traffic crashes. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the economic loss of traffic crashes includes: 

• Work and household productivity losses
• Property damage 
• Medical costs
• Rehabilitation costs
• Legal and court costs
• Congestion costs
• Emergency services 

Improving safety on Louisiana roadways can be achieved through a variety of safety features like: 

• Converting intersections to roundabouts 
• Removing or shielding roadside objects 
• Adding left-turn lanes at intersections
• Signalization of intersections
• Adding or improving median barriers 
• Improved lighting 
• Adding centerline or shoulder rumble strips 
• Providing appropriate pedestrian and bicycle facilities 
• Including sidewalks and bicycle lanes 
• Providing wider lanes 
• Wider and paved shoulders 
• Upgrading roads from two lanes to four 
• Updating rail crossings 

Louisiana’s Worsening Roads and Bridges 

The life cycle of Louisiana’s roads is greatly affected by the state and local governments’ ability to perform timely maintenance and upgrades. Provided by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), pavement data suggests these statistics regarding the condition of Louisiana’s roads and bridges: 

• 47% of Louisiana’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition
• 44% of Louisiana’s major locally and state-maintained urban roads are in poor condition 
• 16% of Louisiana’s major locally and state-maintained rural roads and highways are in poor condition 

Pavement failure is caused by a combination of traffic, moisture, and climate. Moisture often works its way into road surfaces and the materials that form the road’s foundation. Reconstruction of roads costs four times more than minor repair, so it is critical that roads are fixed beforehand. Once roads continue to age, they reach a point of deterioration where it is impossible to perform routine maintenance, resulting in inadequate roadways for travel. 

Given the amount of waterways in Louisiana, its bridges form a key link in the state’s highway system, providing communities and individuals access to employment, schools, medical facilities, commerce, and other essential services. Bridges that are structurally deficient may be posted for lower weight limits or closed if their condition warrants such action. Restrictions of vehicle weight may cause dependency on alternative routes to get around. For vehicles like ambulances, commercial trucks, school buses, and farm equipment, this could put the public at even more extreme of a risk. 13% of Louisiana’s bridges are rated in poor structural condition, the seventh highest share in the U.S. 

Most bridges are designed to last 50 years before major overhaul or replacement while modern bridges can last up to 75 years or longer. In Louisiana, 33% of bridges were built in 1969 or earlier. The service life of bridges can be extended by performing routine maintenance such as resurfacing decks, painting surfaces, ensuring proper drainage, and replacing deteriorating components. Routine maintenance helps to keep the condition of our bridges intact, but most will require costly construction or major repairs to remain operable. 

Transportation Funding and Economic Development 

Revenue from Louisiana’s motor fuel tax, a critical component of state transportation funding, has been eroding at an alarming rate since it was established nearly 40 years ago. Increasing vehicle fuel efficiency and the increase of electric vehicles is likely to erode the fuel tax even further. Fuel efficiency is expected to rise by 2030 to 32 miles per gallon. By 2040, electric vehicles are expected to represent 30% of the passenger vehicle fleet. This reduction in fuel expenditure will inevitably reduce the purchasing power of our roads down to zero.  

In addition to state funds, the federal government is a critical source of funding in Louisiana’s roads, highways, bridges, and transit systems. It provides a significant return based on the revenue generated in the state by federal motor tax. Most federal funds for highway and transit improvements in Louisiana are provided by federal highway user fees, largely an 18.4 cents-per-gallon tax on gasoline and a 24.4 cents-per-gallon tax on diesel fuel. Since 2008, revenu into the federal Highway Trust Fund has been inadequate to support legislatively set funding levels. While the FAST act was extended to expire on September 30, 2021, it still does not provide adequate funding to meet the needs of Louisiana’s deficient roads. 

Build a Better Louisiana | Support Louisiana Coalition to Fix Our Roads 

Louisiana is currently facing a backlog of $786 billion in road and bridge projects. As Louisiana works to enhance its thriving, growing, and dynamic state, it will be critical that it is able to address the most pressing transportation issues by modernizing roads, highways, bridges, and transit infrastructure. By improving the physical condition of its transportation network and enhancing the system’s ability to provide efficient, safe, and reliable mobility for residents, visitors, and businesses, Louisiana will see long-term economic growth. Without a substantial boost in state or local transportation funding, essential projects will continue to fall by the wayside, and quality of life will continue to worsen. It is critical that we work together to build a better future for Louisiana residents. Support Louisiana Coalition to Fix Our Roads in our fight to improve transportation funding in Louisiana. 

How does investing in roads and bridges help the economy?

According to a recent report by the University of Louisiana Lafayette’s Public Policy Center (Center), there are up to four dollars of economic growth for each dollar invested into roads and bridges. When it comes to “what government can do” to reboot Louisiana’s economy, roads and bridges remain the time-tested way to grow our way into a better economy.

In analyzing the issue, the Center found that investing in roads and bridges “inadequate infrastructure increases marginal costs for businesses, reducing productivity. Improving infrastructure can change market structure and the production and consumption processes.” 

When looking to maximize the economic impact, the Center noted that “enhancing infrastructure that impacts the distribution and movement of goods and services may have a higher impact on economic benefits than other types of publicly funded infrastructure. Developing regional amenities, such as through improved transportation access and quality, may attract households and firms and increase the regional impact of public investment.”

Government is extremely limited in what it can do to create jobs and spur economic growth on a short term basis. Investing in roads and bridges is the proven way to have both a short and long term positive impact on the economy.

Louisiana’s history on transportation

Louisiana – like other states and the federal government – has long relied on the gas tax to fund its roads and bridges. According to the Center’s research, “drivers pay $0.20 in state taxes and $0.184 in federal taxes on each gallon of gasoline.” Louisiana’s base gas tax of $0.16 was enacted in 1984 with an additional $0.04 to support a specific list of projects – the Transportation Infrastructure Model of Economic Development (TIMED) program was approved in 1989 that went into effect in 1990.

The challenge with a fuel tax is that it’s based on consumption of fuel and not the price of fuel. 20 cents per gallon had more value in the 1980s than it does today and consumers actually use less fuel per capita today than they used to because of increased fuel economy. If you only look at the effects of inflation, the Center found that the purchasing power of the fuel tax in Louisiana has been “eroded 61.5 percent” since 1984.  To regain that purchasing power, the state fuel tax would need to be increased by 25.5 cents.

Louisiana versus other states

When compared to other states, Louisiana ranks 49^th when you consider the percentage of the entire state budget that goes to transportation, saying a lot about the state’s priorities. More specifically, the Center found that “Louisiana’s transportation expenditures as a percent of total state expenditures are the lowest in the Southeast and the second lowest in the nation. In 2020, Louisiana spent 4%, Texas spent 10.8%, Mississippi spent 6 %, and Florida spent 11.8% on transportation expenditures as a percent of all state expenditures.”

The Center also found that, on average, states fund 73 percent of transportation spending with the rest coming from the federal government. In Louisiana, we only fund 49 percent, relying much more heavily on limited federal funds.

The state of Louisiana roads and bridges

 When you consider our history and how we compare to other states, it’s easy to see why Louisiana has such poor roads and bridges. Since 2012, the backlog of projects has grown from $12.1 to $14.8 billion, and this only relates to fixing the roads and bridges that we have now. It doesn’t speak to the additional billions of needs for new roads and bridges across the State.

Because of our failure to act, the Center found that “nearly 50% of Louisiana’s major roads are rated in poor or mediocre condition” and that “Louisiana has 12,982 highway bridges, 14% of which are considered structurally deficient.”  Additional findings include that “Louisiana has more bridge area (square meters) in poor conditions than any state in our region.”

Louisiana can control its own destiny

Louisiana does not have to accept the current state of affairs. Louisiana doesn’t have to remain so reliant on the federal government to fund its roads and bridges.  The Center found that “$100 million investment on high priority infrastructure could be expected to generate $400 million in economic benefits.” With this in mind, generating new revenue for roads and bridges will allow Louisiana to control its own destiny and put the State on a path toward long-term, sustained economic growth.

2019 is an election year in Louisiana — and it’s time for the candidates to know what issues matter most to voters. Candidates for governor, and on down the ballot, need to make fixing our state’s roads and bridges a top priority

Louisiana’s most recent Infrastructure Report Card gave our roads and bridges a “D,” saying that, “Louisiana’s infrastructure needs immediate attention.” Over 1,800 bridges across the state (the second-worst in the country) are deemed unsafe, and over one-third of our roads are rated to be in “poor or worse” condition. The lack of attention and funding solutions have caused Louisiana to drop from 45th to 48th in U.S. News & World Report’s infrastructure rankings.

President Donald Trump has made fixing our country’s roads and bridges a top priority with his infrastructure plan.

It’s time for politicians in Baton Rouge to join President Trump and pass a real plan to fix our state’s crumbling roads and bridges. Add your name to DEMAND a plan for Louisiana’s roads and bridges this election!

Sign Up To Demand A Plan: 

In 1982 Ronald Reagan, conservative icon and one of America’s greatest Presidents, addressed the nation to convey the importance of fixing our roads and funding them in a fiscally responsible way – with a gas tax.

Reagan warned that failing our roads today will cost us more in the future.

Fast forward to 2019 and Louisiana finds itself in a dangerous situation with its roads and bridges.

President Reagan was committed to prudent tax policy. He was also confident that a gas tax was both an equitable and fiscally responsible method of funding infrastructure investment.

“Good tax policy decrees that wherever possible a fee for a service should be assessed against those who directly benefit from that service. Our highways were built largely with such a user fee—the gasoline tax.”

President Ronald Reagan was right in 1982, and Louisiana cannot wait another moment. It’s been 30 years since we’ve adjusted our gas tax and the roads and bridges we use every day are crumbling.

We must implement a fiscally responsible funding plan that addresses the critical needs of our highway system.

Louisiana cannot wait to fix our crumbling roads and bridges. Our lawmakers need to take action now!

It’s only April and the 19th bridge of the year has already been closed in Louisiana. One of the more significant closures is on LA 4 at Castor Creek in Bienville Parish. A bridge which serves commuters, logging, and fracking trucks. A 20-mile detour will be required for commuters which use the bridge daily to travel to work.

Here is the full list of bridge closures in 2019:

1. St. Landry Parish on Jessie B Rd. over Bayou Mallet
2. Sabine Parish on Tobe Nabours Rd. over Toledo Bend Tributary
3. Lafayette Parish on LA 1252, Bayou Point Burle
4. Intracoastal Waterway Bridge in Port Allen Parish on LA 1
5. Claiborne Parish on LA 534
6. Madison Parish on LA 577 over Joe’s Bayou
7. Claiborne Parish on LA 534
8. Claiborne Parish on LA 534
9. Red River Parish on LA 507
10. Bienville Parish on LA 9
11. East Carroll Parish on LA 585
12. Franklin Parish on LA 577
13. Iberia Parish on LA 86
14. Vermilion Parish on LA 82
15. Vernon Parish on LA 399
16. Union Parish on LA 151
17. Morehouse Parish on LA 134
18. Bienville Parish on LA 4
19. St. Landry Parish on Little Teche Rd.

Of the 12,000-plus bridges in the state of Louisiana, thirty percent are 50 years old and thirty percent are load posted, meaning there is a weight limit on the bridge. Load postings prohibit large trucks from using bridges, creating burdens on businesses trying to transport goods and supplies. Rural businesses and commuters are hit hardest by decaying roads and bridges.

Bridges will continue to close and drivers will keep experiencing delays until a bill is passed which provides the necessary funds to make the much-needed improvements. HB 542, a comprehensive road and bridge funding bill, is currently in the Louisiana House Ways and Means Committee. It has been 30 years, we cannot wait another year for reform. HB 542 not only provides more funding, but ensures newly acquired dollars will not be used for salaries, but strictly for roads and bridges improvement projects.

Map of closed bridges throughout the state:

Business Backs Bill to Control DOTD Budget and Fix Our Roads

Baton Rouge – Legislation to control DOTD’s operating budget and raise more revenue to fix Louisiana’s roads and bridges has been filed by State Representative Steve Carter (R-Baton Rouge). The bill, HB 542, ratchets down DOTD’s current use of the existing fuel tax for operating expenses. The bill simultaneously increases new revenue for highways through a fuel tax increase, rededication of existing sales tax, and new registration fees on electric and hybrid vehicles.

It has been thirty years since state lawmakers have passed a major reform and investment package for Louisiana’s roads and bridges. Over that period, rising costs have eroded the value of the fuel tax while DOTD’s operating budget has also been allowed to grow each year. This bill ensures 8 cents of taxpayers existing fuel tax are invested back into road and bridge preservation and construction by 2025.

Central to the coalition’s proposal is the utilization of the new “Construction Subfund” (lockbox) of the Transportation Trust Fund. The “lockbox” ensures dollars deposited in the “lockbox” go directly to projects. Voters approved this constitutional amendment in 2017, protecting highway dollars from any DOTD employee costs.

“This legislation is the product of dozens of businesses in this state coming together to produce a real, long-term solution to Louisiana’s crumbling roads and bridges,” said Michael J. Olivier, CEcD COO of C100 Louisiana. “This bill has been specifically developed to address every concern that has prevented the legislature from taking action in the past.”

“Providing safe roads and bridges are a vital function of state government and it’s time for us in the legislature to start making our citizens’ safety a priority,” said author Rep. Steve Carter a Baton Rouge Republican. “The fuel tax is the time-tested, fair way to raise money for roads and bridges. We are once again among the last states in the country to raise revenue for roads. Every state in the deep south has raised revenue within the past six months. This bill is the right solution for our legislature and our State.”

“If we do nothing, DOTD’s operating budget will soon consume what little money we do have going to roads – that is simply not acceptable,” said Chance McNeely, Executive Director of the Louisiana Motor Transport Association. “We support this bill because it puts existing fuel tax dollars back on roads and off DOTD’s growing operating budget. We’ve never been willing to put our good money on top of bad, and this bill solves that problem while also creating reasonable revenue increases. This is the conservative, right way to fix our roads.”

In addition to the key reform measures, HB 542 increases the state gasoline tax by 6 cents in 2019 and the state diesel tax by 4 cents. Both taxes will increase by two cents every two years through 2031, with no increases beyond that time. Other legislation, HB 217 by Rep. Walt Leger, increases truck permit fees to justify the off-set between gasoline and diesel.

The bill establishes a $300 fee on electric vehicles and a $200 fee on hybrids, rates that are consistent with what regular vehicles pay in fuel taxes. As a supplement to the core revenue measures, the bill also rededicates portions of the existing .45 cent “new” sales tax to transportation through 2025.

The legislation also prioritizes and pays for several signature capacity infrastructure projects including a new Mississippi River bridge at Baton Rouge, a new I-10 bridge across the Calcasieu River at Lake Charles, the completion of I-49 South from Lafayette to New Orleans, the widening of I-12 from Baton Rouge to the Mississippi State Line, widening of I-20 at Shreveport and Bossier City, widening of I-20 at Monroe and access improvements to the Port of New Orleans.

HB 542 dedicates 60 percent of revenues to preservation, financing a robust statewide bridge replacement program aimed at constructing hundreds of new bridges in rural Louisiana along many of the state’s non-interstate highways.

“Our state’s transportation system is creating major challenges for the agriculture and forestry industries,” said Ronnie Anderson, President of Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation. “With thousands of load-posted, comprised bridges, our farmers and foresters have a very difficult time getting their goods to market. Roads and bridges must be a priority for the legislature – we have to do something about this now.”

The Louisiana Coalition to Fix Our Roads consists of over 100 businesses, Chambers of Commerce and trade associations across Louisiana, a group that has come together to ask drivers and the public in general to join them in their efforts to rally lawmakers to pass a comprehensive plan to make our current roads and bridges safe, meet the state’s growing transportation needs and improve our quality of life in Louisiana.

“The campaign is about empowering people to directly connect with their lawmakers and share with their friends and followers that they are in fact fed up with our state’s terrible roads and bridges,” said Ponti. “2019 must be the year to fix our roads.”
“It’s common sense. We need quality roads and bridges in our state. It affects us all – our families, our businesses, our state’s economic opportunities,” said Ponti. “The citizens of Louisiana are speaking up and want their Legislators to stop ignoring the issue and begin working together on a plan to fix our roads and bridges.”

Lawmakers will return to the capital on April 8 for the 2019 legislative session where Rep. Carter‘s bill will be considered along with other legislation aimed at fixing and improving the state’s roads and bridges.

Traffic jams continue to increase in parishes throughout Louisiana as funding for improvements to our roads and bridges remains dramatically underfunded.  Throughout Louisiana, commuters and businesses depend on safe reliable roads and bridges to move themselves and goods all over the state. Businesses are becoming more and more economically crippled by the lack of safe dependable roads and bridges.  Examples of two specific parishes that are suffering firsthand from the lack of road and bridge investment are St. Tammany Parish and West Baton Rouge Parish.

According to Nola.com, St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister is asking the state for an explanation about the lack of infrastructure projects, as commuters in her parish have consistent commute times of up to 2 – 4 hours, when it should be an easy commute up and down US 190. The increased commute time is thought to be caused by malfunctioning traffic lights. At her annual state of the parish address to the St. Tammany Parish West Chamber of Commerce, Brister again acknowledged the issue saying, “I hear it every day. We know traffics a problem.” As the parish waits for its answer, businesses continue to suffer, unable to efficiently move goods and personnel up and down US 190.

In West Baton Rouge Parish, another lane closure on the Intracoastal bridge has frustrations rising among commuters and business owners throughout the parish. By closing two lanes on the bridge (one lane closed as the result of a dump truck accidentally striking a support column) the Department of Transportation and Development (DODT) has essentially slowed traffic to a crawl. DODT Secretary Shawn Wilson released the following statement in response, “We know this is an inconvenience on a bridge that is already over capacity, and that is why we have treated this as an emergency situation,” said Wilson. “Once our inspectors determined the bridge damage caused an unsafe situation, we had no choice but to close the lane for safety reasons, hire a contractor, and begin the process to expedite these repairs, while accelerating the repairs that were underway when this impact occurred. We also have instituted traffic mitigation measures to ease the pain of the lane closure. Again, I know this is a horrible inconvenience, but safety is our number one concern.”

Parishes like St. Tammany and West Baton Rouge throughout Louisiana will continue to suffer until road and bridge improvements around the state are funded and implemented proactively.

Sources:

https://www.nola.com/northshore/2019/03/the-state-of-st-tammany-parish-traffic-traffic-traffic.html

http://www.wbrz.com/news/lane-closed-indefinitely-after-dump-truck-collides-with-intracoastal-bridge

Bridges are essential to any transportation system within a state. Businesses, drivers and governments rely on the bridges, highways and roads to operate daily and provide essential services for the state. As Louisiana modernizes, the number of people driving cars will continue to increase. According to the 2018 TRIP Report, the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in Louisiana increased 20% from 2000 to 2016, from 40.9 million VMT to 49.2 million VMT. Increased VMT will only speed up the already decaying bridge system within the state.

Not only does better infrastructure benefit those already within the state, but it helps attract prospective businesses to Louisiana as well. When deciding to relocate or expand, businesses seriously consider how smooth and well-maintained roads and bridges are due to the maintenance problems poorly maintained roads can cause. As reported in the 2018 TRIP Report, the Federal Highway Administration estimates that each dollar spent on road, highway and bridge improvements results in an average benefit of $5.20 in the form of reduced vehicle maintenance costs, reduced delays, reduced fuel consumption, etc.

Bridges and all forms of infrastructure are key in attracting new businesses and jobs to Louisiana. Not only does it make daily life for Louisianians easier, but it can increase the number of jobs and GDP level in the state. Highway accessibility was ranked number one on site selection in a 2017 survey of corporate executives by Area Development Magazine. Increased funding for infrastructure improvement in Louisiana will have much larger impacts on the state than just smoother roads.

photo credit: Wikipedia