LA 1 federal grant app denied

The LA 1 Coalition’s grant application for $18.4 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation was denied last week, the third-straight year the coalition failed to secure Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery funds.

Although the denial delivers a blow to advocates of replacing La. Highway 1 with an elevated roadway that would bridge Golden Meadow and Fourchon, coalition Executive Director Henri Boulet remains optimistic the advocates can work to secure funding from other sources.

“We’re going to forge forward in 2012, applying for any potential funding mechanism that we qualify for at the federal level,” Boulet said.

The funding would have green-lit the first segment of the coalition’s estimated-$320-million second phase. Conceptually, Phase 2 is divided into three segments; the first is a $45 million project that would start construction at the southernmost portion of the Larose-to-Golden Meadow levee system.

It would pave the way for the more-costly second and third projects to be constructed using an end-on method, which prevents damage to the area’s wetlands.

The state pledged to complement the federal funds with $20 million, and four local entities pledged $6.6 million.

“We’re disappointed the federal government didn’t utilize the significant financial partnership that was offered by the state and private industry,” Boulet said. “We’ve heard the administration say this is what they want, and we’re disappointed they didn’t take up what we feel was a very fair proposal for national involvement in this Congressionally designated high-priority corridor.”

Among the potential options the coalition will monitor: President Barack Obama’s American Jobs Act, which would provide up to $50 billion for transportation projects; a budding congressional effort to expand Outer Continental Shelf exploration and dedicate royalties to infrastructure projects; and the reauthorization of SAFETEA-LU, which also allots federal funds to transportation projects.

Boulet said he is particularly intrigued by Ohio Congressman Steve Stivers’s (R-Columbus) announcement a month ago that he would seek to expand offshore energy production and use the revenue for infrastructure projects.

“It may get some broad support there, and I’m just encouraged that there are people talking about that we’ve got to find a mechanism to fund infrastructure upgrades nationwide,” Boulet said.

DOT’s announcement came on the heels of a successful weekend for the coalition, which, in conjunction with the state Department of Transportation and Development and the governor’s office, recently cut the ribbon on a new intersection that allows direct access from the Tomey J. Doucet Bridge in Leeville to Fourchon.

The intersection marked the conclusion of the first phase of a major overhaul of Lafourche Parish’s infrastructure.

Highway 1, the only drivable route to and from the Gulf of Mexico energy exploration hub at Port Fourchon, is slowly succumbing to high tides and subsidence, according to an environmental study.

Highway 1 is sinking at a rate of 9.24 mm per year and would thus be 5 percent flooded, and impassable, for at least 155 days each year by 2040, according to a study released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The South Lafourche Levee System protects the highway north of Golden Meadow, but a 7.1-mile stretch south of the system remains vulnerable.

If the highway is closed for a 90-day period, the nation’s Gross Domestic Product would lose $7.8 billion over a span of 10 years, according to a study performed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s NIMSAT Institute.

Ted Falgout, the coalition’s chairman, said despite the funding rejection, 2011 was still a “year for the record books” because of what the group was able to accomplish, lauding the new intersection and DHS-stamped study.

“It’s an exciting time for the Coalition and the local community, all made possible by the great support we have had from officials at every level of government, business and industry, and the residents of Lafourche Parish,” he said.

In total, 46 transportation projects in 33 states and Puerto Rico will split DOT’s $511 million allotment. The department said it received 848 applications totaling $14.29 billion from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C.

Only five projects that exceeded what the coalition requested were approved. Four projects were awarded $20 million, and the fifth received $18.5 million.

The coalition has twice before failed to win TIGER funds for the second phase of the highway improvement plan. Last year, its $100 million application was denied, and in 2009, the coalition failed to have its $300 million application approved.

The entry point to the Tommy J. Doucet bridge in Leeville. The U.S. Department of Transportation excluded the LA 1 Coalition when it announced last week the 46 transportation projects nationwide that would receive TIGER III funding. COURTESY PHOTO