“This infrastructure package will rebuild our roads and bridges, improve access to high-speed Internet, strengthen our electricity grid, increase levee protection and improve flood resistance,” said US Senator Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana. “After natural disasters hit almost every corner of our state last year, we must have federal investment to protect us from future storms.” Many Louisiana officials hope that investing $ 1 trillion in infrastructure across the country will finally provide the funding to help tackle the backlog of problems in the state.
Muscarello said there were reasons why insurance rates were higher in Louisiana, and one of them was the poor road conditions. He hopes that an improvement in the state’s critical infrastructure will result in lower insurance rates.
State Representative Nicky Muscarello, R-Hammond, said the state did a poor job of maintaining roads and bridges and never really focused on it.
State Rep. Robby Carter, D-Greensburg, called this opportunity one that comes “once in a generation” but cautioned that the money must be used very carefully.
Among the projects Carter is hoping for are improvements to Highway 51 from Fluker to Kentwood, where a couple of bridges have failed and there are detours. He’s also hoping to see some work on the major thoroughfares. He plans to push for Highway 16 to be four lanes from the Denham Springs interstate to Amite.
State Representative Bill Wheat, R-Ponchatoula, is hoping that Highway 22 East will be widened from the Ponchatoula city limits to the parish line, similar to what has already been done on the west side of Highway 22.
This is a busy area with a school and lots of new residents along the freeway, and there are safety issues going up and down on Highway 22 East, Wheat said.
Opportunities
He would also like help for the numerous east side bridges on this east side.
The federal infrastructure move is a golden opportunity for local governments to spend excess capital on projects that would otherwise be too expensive, Carter said.
Over the past few years, Carter has helped raise funds for a fire department training center in Amite, where local firefighters can train in one location. State funds are scarce, but he hopes that the project with the infrastructure plan can finally get its funding.
Other projects that could potentially be funded include building an emergency office for the parish of St Helena and improving the communities’ water and sanitation systems, he said.
Kentwood, Roseland and Amite need help with their sewer systems and he believes some of that money could be used to help.
“I’m very glad we finally have money that locals can use without matches,” Carter said. “Some of them can’t afford to raise (money), and this can really help get some of the things that were missing.”
Louisiana Capital Outlay Funds require a 25 percent local match of funds for the projects, and many of these locations don’t have a lot of sales tax. It’s a burden on them to get that 25 percent match, he said.
In the last session he was working on getting a hangar for Hammond Airport and plans to keep pushing for more because he believes the airport will bring trade to the area.
Rep. Muscarello said his focus will continue to be on Hammond Northshore Regional Airport, which is an important part of Hammond and a major economic driver for the region.
Although the process has started, funding has been a key issue to drive broadband deployment in rural areas, Muscarello said.
Carter said he wants to focus on making sure all rural areas have broadband access.
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