The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Build America Bureau recently provided the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) with a $88.3 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan through the Louisiana State Bond Commission.
The agency will use the funding for the $268 million LA 415 connector project.
The 2.6 mile project will connect LA 1 and LA 415 at Interstate 10 in Port Allen. Work includes a four-lane roadway connecting LA 1 near LA 988 (Beaulieu Lane) and I-10 at the LA 415 interchange as well as bridges over the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
“The project is critical to improving resiliency and enhancing safety by providing a direct connection and evacuation route for areas south of I-10,” said USDOT Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg. “The new access west of LA 1 will also support regional economic growth for residents and businesses in this rural area.”
Construction will begin in late 2025 or early 2026 and will complete in late 2028.
DOTD also has $38 million in additional federal funding. and leveraged BP settlement agreement/Act 443 funds to finance the loan.
The loan is the last of seven TIFIA loans DOTD borrowed for project development and construction.