Louisiana project receives $26.9 million federal loan

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The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau recently awarded the Rural Projects Initiative a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan of up to $26.9 million.

Funding will be used for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development’s construction of LA 3241: LA 36 to LA 435 project in St. Tammany Parish.

LA 36 to LA 435 is the second segment of the LA 3241 project. Work includes two bridges, a 64-foot depressed median and the construction of an 8.2-mile section of a four-lane highway from I-12 to the LA 21.

The I-49 S Ambassador Caffery/US 90 Interchange in Lafayette Parish, the final project from this infrastructure loan package, is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2022.

The bureau approved the third of four loans in August. The first two loans closed in September.

“This is an example of how the Build America Bureau is making innovative financing options, which help deliver important projects more quickly and at lower cost to the taxpayer, available to smaller and rural communities,” Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg said.

The DOT provides TIFIA and other surface transportation infrastructure financing through its Build America Bureau to reduce the costs of infrastructure projects.

The bureau has provided more than $36.6 billion in TIFIA loans.