Free Republic

A gas tax bill crafted by a statewide industry group, Louisiana Coalition to Fix Our Roads, and sponsored by Republican Baton Rouge Rep. Steve Carter is the latest proposed solution to the state’s aging, chronically gridlocked transportation infrastructure. It’s also the most ambitious. Not only would the bill gradually increase the state’s gasoline tax, but it would levy fees on electric and hybrid vehicles and redirect a temporary, half-cent sales tax to highway and bridge construction projects. It would also dedicate a portion of the funds to specific, badly needed projects around the state, including a new Mississippi River bridge...

What to do with the rundown, dangerous and divisive Evangeline Thruway is a critical open question facing state transportation officials planning an elevated interstate connection through the heart of Lafayette. The Department of Transportation and Development is considering two options: keep the basic structure in place as a frontage road, or reinvent a portion of the roadway as a pedestrian-friendly “Grand Boulevard.” The thruway cordoned neighborhoods to the east when it was built in 1963, and the boulevard idea aims to reconnect those neighborhoods to downtown commerce. State officials and their consultants said a decision will come within a year....

A DOTD project manager has informed a citizen committee that they must limit their discussion to DOTD's selected proposals for the Interstate 49 extension or resign from the committee. The order, issued in an Tuesday email to the Community Working Group, came from Toby Picard, the engineer who is project manager for the proposed connection of Interstate 49 with U.S. 90 south. There currently are 14 versions of the connection, all of which include at least a partially elevated highway through the heart of Lafayette. These are the only options that are acceptable for discussion by the committee, Picard's email...