Lambert Media
COVER STORY
The future of...
INFRASTRUCTURE With two new sources of funding, will Louisiana finally bring transportation up to speed?
Running across the entire state, I-10 creates traffic bottlenecks in Baton Rouge and Lake Charles due to outdated infrastructure.
BY MARIE CENTANNI
I
n Calcasieu Parish, thousands of workers drive to and from a cluster of major industrial facilities on their daily commutes, largely relying on the I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge or the I-210 loop to get them where they need to go—preferably, on time. But that’s a daily gamble, with big potential impact. Traffic delays caused by accidents on the steep, narrow and obsolete bridge are all to frequent, and almost predictable— especially when it rains. “The unpredictability of the bridge shutdowns and traffic backups impacts the entire organization,” says Megan Hartman, public relations director at Phillips 66’s Lake Charles complex, home to 775 fulltime workers and around 350 contract workers. “Overtime incurred on shift changes when the relief isn’t able to get to work on time, parents being unable to pick up children from school on time, and overall labi.org
loss of productivity can be impactful.” From an economic development standpoint, the industrial investment in the area is historic. Tens of billions of dollars have been invested in these facilities, and the region is benefitting from a workforce boom and growth in economic opportunity. But local infrastructure struggles to keep up with that growth, including the interstate— which, local manufacturing plants aside—is a major national artery for moving goods and people. As Louisiana’s transportation chief says, Calcasieu’s bottlenecks are the nation’s bottlenecks. “Replacing the Calcasieu River Bridge is going to provide certainty for decades and for generations,” says Shawn Wilson, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), “recognizing that I-10 is the freight corridor for the country.” Louisiana Association of Business and Industry
It’s a weighty distinction that comes with a certain responsibility for continued investment, amplified further by the series of hurricanes that have hit coastal Louisiana at both ends; Louisiana has always been one of the most logistically advantageous states in the nation, starting not with roads, but with water. “Thomas Jefferson recognized the importance of the Mississippi River, which is why he pushed the Louisiana Purchase,” says U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-Baton Rouge). “Thirty-one states are connected to the river. It’s an economic goldmine, and it’s right here.” And that trade foundation has, over the state’s history, spurred a network of multimodal methods of transporting goods and people, from water to rail to roads and air. It’s what landed the investment in places like southwest Louisiana, creating the
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