New pay option coming for elevated Leeville overpass

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is expected to consider an option for a cash toll lane at the new elevated Leeville overpass later this fall with the hopes of having the lane up and running by next summer.

Officials say the current pay system for the highway, which involves no cash options and requires drivers to stop at kiosks and purchase toll passes, has proven to be inefficient and fraught with problems.

Since opening in 2009, the elevated overpass over Bayou Lafourche at Leeville has been collecting tolls ranging from $2.50 for a standard automobile up to $12 for the largest 18-wheeler trucks with funds going to the repayment of bond monies used to build the overpass and connecting highways. While generating more than $3 million in 2010, the collection system still fell some 16 percent short of revenue projections for the year, in large part caused by the inefficiency of the toll system and its inability to collect fines from non-paying motorists, according to officials.

A consultant study on the matter revealed that in addition to numerous software glitches that failed to properly identify toll violators on a timely basis, field reports and random interviews with individuals trying to use the system report that kiosks were often broken or offline and thus not in operation.

In addition, the computer software system in place has been unable to adequately identify and properly bill toll violators in the time frame expected after a violation.

Some motorists have reported crossing the span without paying and never receiving a violation notice for payment in the days and weeks after the violation.

Officials say they are hoping that placing a cash toll lane near the overpass entrance will alleviate many of the problems with the electronic pass system and will help raise the toll revenue to the numbers needed to pay off the construction bonds.

Henri Boulet, executive director of the LA1 Coalition, a group spearheading the construction of the highway, said that an update on the status of the cash lane is expected at a mid October meeting of the Louisiana Transportation Authority.

“It appears there may be some design issues with the configuration of the cash lane at the overpass site,” Boulet said, while also noting that it will likely be machines in place to take either cash or credit cards.

“An actual person stationed there to collect money is highly unlikely. What will likely be put there are all weather machines with the ability to withstand our climate and still provide the various payment options needed on site to make it an efficient process.”