Free Republic

The Louisiana Legislature voted overwhelmingly Thursday to move approximately $300 million annually from a fund that pays for higher education and health care to a fund that pays for large transportation projects. Supporters have said the spending will not only improve the state’s infrastructure system, but that it will also create construction jobs. Critics are concerned the proposal would exacerbate an already expected budget deficit in July 2025 affecting state universities, hospitals and other health care programs. Gov. John Bel Edwards needs to sign the legislation for it to become law. Edwards hasn’t decided if he approves of the bill...

Here in McDonald County Missouri it may not look like much right now, but this is going to be Interstate 49 in a few months. We were standing on what’s called the Missouri-Arkansas Connector, this is the portion of the Bella-Vista bypass that MPDOT is responsible for, and so far things are going just as scheduled. Right now the only traffic on the future I-49 is construction traffic. The Bella Vista bypass is a joint venture between ARDOT and MODOT. Each state is responsible for its own road. In Missouri they are on the hook for just over 5 miles...

Peter Lance's new book, Triple Cross, (the complete title is: Triple Cross, How Bin Laden's Master Spy Penetrated the CIA, the Green Berets and the FBI -- And Why Patrick Fitzgerald Failed to Stop Him) is out in bookstores on 11/21/2006. This is a link to the Able Danger Blog's review of the book. Here is the text of the Harper Collins' press release for the book: TRIPLE CROSS How Bin Laden's Master Spy Penetrated the CIA, the Green Berets and the FBI -- And Why Patrick Fitzgerald Failed to Stop Him By Peter Lance In TRIPLE CROSS, five-time Emmy-award...

A first-draft plan for Arkansas roadway spending shows lane additions to the Greenwood bypass and Arkansas 22 between Charleston and Fort Smith, as well as potential Interstate 49 construction in the Fort Smith area. Dubbed the CAP-2 draft by the Arkansas Department of Transportation, the Connecting Arkansas Program-2 list is a “data driven” starting point work that will largely be contingent on the continuation of a half-percent sales tax next year, according to ARDOT spokesperson Danny Straessle. “The governor proposes to make it permanent,” Straessle said. “This is a list of about 20 years of work.” In a recent meeting,...

PINEVILLE, Mo. — Gregg Sweeten had difficulty last week putting his reaction into words. When he learned that funding for the long-sought Bella Vista Bypass had been found, Sweeten, the Pineville mayor and McDonald County emergency manager, was stunned. Then he was elated. "That is amazing," Sweeten said. "That is going to be so great. I think it’s going to lead to all kinds of opportunities not only for Pineville but for McDonald County. I mean, it’s just — I just can’t say how happy I am. Wow. That is ... that’s wild. That’s amazing. That’s a Christmas present right...

A future Interstate 49 and whether it will become Arkansas’ first toll road are being considered, with public meetings likely coming in early 2018, reports KFSM news station.The interstate section being considered would stretch from Barling to Alma over the Arkansas River. The Arkansas Department of Transportation has commissioned a study on charging tolls on the future highway section.The study is scheduled to be completed next fall, and public meetings are expected at the first of 2018 to get public input on the project, the station reports.Interstate 49 would eventually stretch from New Orleans to Canada. Portions of the highway...

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....

One of Arkansas’ top priorities is finishing Interstate 49 in the western part of the state. A key component of that massive project, which is also massively expensive, is a 13.7-mile stretch near Fort Smith that includes a bridge over the Arkansas River to connect Interstate 40 with Interstate 49, which would then run from south Fort Smith to northwest Arkansas and up through the midsection of the nation. The project’s completion would connect with a 6.5-mile stretch of Interstate 549 that opened in 2015 and hooks up U.S. 71 with Highway 22 in south Fort Smith. The proposed 13.7-mile...

A toll feasibility study is up in the air for the future Interstate 49 bridge over the Arkansas River with extensions connecting Arkansas 22 to Interstate 40 at Alma. Following approval last year of $10 million in I-49 project development, the Arkansas Department of Transportation solicited bids for a consultant to conduct an I-49 toll feasibility study. They are currently in a negotiation phase, according to ArDOT District 4 Construction Engineer Jason Hughey. ArDOT selected HNTB on June 23 to conduct the “I-49 Alternative Delivery Study.” The negotiations are over the scope of work and process has been “fluid,” ArDOT...

City-parish president candidates Joel Robideaux and Dee Stanley navigated questions on coal-generated power, the disruption an elevated interstate might cause in Lafayette and whether the city has too many traffic signals — all posed at a Thursday evening forum sponsored by the local chapter of the Sierra Club. In a campaign season where the candidates have often found themselves repeatedly addressing the same issues in the string of debates and forums leading up to the Oct. 24 election, Stanley and Robideaux covered some new ground at the environmental group’s forum at the Lafayette Public Library downtown. Robideaux, a longtime state...

Webpage shows quite a few road problems/closures due to weather...

BELTON, Mo. — As Missouri lawmakers return to Jefferson City Wednesday, one of many issues they are expected to consider is raising the state’s speed limit. Along Interstate 49 here, the speed limit is 70 miles an hour, but that could jump up to 75 if this proposal becomes law. A southwest Missouri lawmaker wants drivers in the Show-Me State to be able to go faster on rural highways. Rep. Mike Kelley from Lamar, further south on I-49, wants to raise the speed limit to 75 miles an hour on 4-lane highways away from the cities. Currently Missouri’s speed limit...

LAFAYETTE — A state trooper, who saw a naked man struggling with a St. Landry Parish deputy in the deputy’s squad car on Interstate 49, fired his handgun and then stunned the alleged attacker with a stun gun, State Police Troop I said Thursday. State Police said Byron Simon, 22, of Ville Platte, ran naked to the deputy’s squad car, jumped inside and began struggling with the deputy, who was responding to a report about a two-vehicle wreck at about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday. State trooper Travis Gallow, who also was responding to the accident, drove up to the deputy, who...

A man who was driving naked has been arrested following a bizarre crash on a stretch of Interstate 49 in Shreveport, Louisiana about 1 p.m. Sunday. Shreveport police officers responded to a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 49 in which a vehicle flipped numerous times after plowing into the back of two unsuspecting motorists. Witnesses reported that a man driving a grey Mitsubishi sedan had been observed traveling northbound on I-49 at excessive speeds, when he slammed into the rear end of a Cadillac sedan occupied by Warren and Linda Windham of Shreveport. The force of the collision was such that...

The Texas Department of Transportation should submit a request for more detailed proposals within the next couple of months to work on the Interstate 69 section of the massive Trans-Texas Corridor project. Earlier this year, two teams of private investors indicated their interest in the I-69 portion by submitting requests for qualifications: Bluebonnet Infrastructure Investors and the ZAI ACS TTC-69 Team. Bluebonnet’s equity partner is Cintra, while ZAI ACS is led by Zachry American Infrastructure and ACS Infrastructure Development. Cintra-Zachry signed a comprehensive development agreement to develop TTC-35, which would go from the Dallas area to Mexico. “We shortlisted both...

Gubernatorial hopeful Bobby Jindal was in Minden Friday for the sixth time during his campaign run. Prior to attending a rally in his honor at the Minden Civic Center, Jindal stopped by the Minden Press-Herald for a question and answer session. The questions address the largest areas of concern facing the state as well as criticisms about Jindal's age and other concerns voiced by those opposing the 32-year-old Republican. Question: Why do you consider yourself to be a good leader? Jindal: There are a couple of things; I think the fact that I have a proven track record of solving...

<p>SHREVEPORT - Gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Blanco took her gloves off in a debate here Friday, openly criticizing what she said were failures during Bobby Jindal's terms as head of the Department of Health and Hospitals and as head of the University of Louisiana System.</p>

<p>Attorney General Richard Ieyoub touted his record and leadership ability Wednesday as his gubernatorial campaign came to Alexandria.</p> <p>"We have a very strong message of bold, energetic leadership for the people of Louisiana, which is absolutely necessary, if we're going to move this state in the right direction," he said.</p>