HLS 16RS-4809 ORIGINAL
2016 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 188
BY REPRESENTATIVES STEVE CARTER, BACALA, CHAD BROWN, DAVIS,
EDMONDS, FOIL, JAMES, PRICE, SMITH, AND THIBAUT
TRANSPORTATION DEPT: Directs the Department of Transportation and Development
to repurpose certain congressional earmarked funds for the planning, design, and
construction of the widening and improvement of certain portions of Louisiana
Highway 30
1 A RESOLUTION
2To direct the Department of Transportation and Development to repurpose congressional
3 funds earmarked for the planning, design, and construction of the Pointe Clair
4 Expressway for the widening and improvement of certain portions of Louisiana
5 Highway 30.
6 WHEREAS, Louisiana Highway 30 is used as a major thoroughfare by those who
7live and work in the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and Iberville; and
8 WHEREAS, Louisiana Highway 30 is a vitally important state route in the parishes
9of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and Iberville, not only because of the growth of new
10residential neighborhoods and increased economic development in those areas, but because
11the two-lane highway is already a major business and commuter corridor and widening
12portions of this highway can ease heavy traffic congestion currently being experienced on
13Interstate Highway 10; and
14 WHEREAS, the role of Louisiana Highway 30 as a commuter corridor will only
15intensify with further congestion on Interstate 10 and the strong possibility that a new
16Mississippi River bridge will tie into it; and
17 WHEREAS, studies have shown that building a new bridge without an improved
18Louisiana Highway 30 would leave traffic stuck on that highway, effectively undermining
19the added capacity of a new one-billion-dollar bridge; and
Page 1 of 3 HLS 16RS-4809 ORIGINAL
HR NO. 188
1 WHEREAS, the traffic congestion on Louisiana Highway 30 has made the route
2inconvenient to motorists traveling in the area and the widening and improvement of the
3highway in the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and Iberville would alleviate
4growing traffic congestion; and
5 WHEREAS, prior to September 30, 2005, two million four hundred three thousand
6five hundred forty dollars was earmarked for the plan, design, and construction of the Pointe
7Clair Expressway in Iberville Parish; and
8 WHEREAS, Section 125 of the Department of Transportation Appropriations Act,
92016 (Pub. L. No. 114-113, Division L, Title I), provides the authority for a state or territory
10to repurpose any earmark that was designated on or before September 30, 2005, and is less
11than ten percent obligated or final vouchered and closed; and
12 WHEREAS, the repurposed funds may be obligated on a new or existing project in
13the state within fifty miles of the earmark designation and the Consolidated Appropriations
14Act of 2016 requires the redesignation of these funds occur prior to the end of the 2016
15federal fiscal year; and
16 WHEREAS, as of December 18, 2015, the total unobligated balance of the earmark
17project to plan, design, and construct Pointe Clair Expressway in Iberville Parish was two
18million four hundred three thousand five hundred forty dollars; and
19 WHEREAS, Louisiana Highway 30, in the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge,
20and Iberville, is within the congressional designated fifty-mile radius of the geographical
21area for which the funding was originally designated; and
22 WHEREAS, in order to receive future participating federal funds, the next step
23needed for the Louisiana Highway 30 improvements is a Stage I Environmental Study.
24 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
25Legislature of Louisiana does hereby direct the Department of Transportation and
26Development to repurpose congressional funds earmarked for the planning, design, and
27construction of the Pointe Clair Expressway in Iberville Parish, and to secure the state match
28of six hundred thousand eight hundred and eighty-five dollars for the planning, design, and
29construction of the widening of Louisiana Highway 30 by first funding one million five
30hundred thousand dollars of the three million four thousand four hundred twenty-five dollars
Page 2 of 3 HLS 16RS-4809 ORIGINAL
HR NO. 188
1in available unobligated funds for the Stage I Environmental Study of widening Louisiana
2Highway 30 from West Lee Drive/Brightside Lane to United States Highway 61, and
3subsequently utilizing the remainder to fund the design and construction of needed
4improvements to the intersection of Louisiana Highway 74 and Louisiana Highway 30 in
5Saint Gabriel, Louisiana.
6 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the redesignation of these funds shall occur prior
7to the end of the 2016 federal fiscal year as required by the Consolidated Appropriations Act
8of 2016.
9 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation and
10Development shall fund and utilize the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Planning Organization,
11which includes the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and Iberville, to procure and
12manage the production of the Stage I Environmental Study and once funding is secured, the
13department shall enter into construction phase contracts for the widening and improvement
14of any intersection on Louisiana Highway 30 within one year.
15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
16to the Department of Transportation and Development.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 188 Original 2016 Regular Session Steve Carter
Directs the Dept. of Transportation and Development to repurpose congressional funds
earmarked for the planning, design, and construction of the Pointe Clair Expressway in
Iberville Parish for the planning, design, and construction of the widening and improvement
of certain portions of La. Hwy. 30.
Requires the redesignation of the earmarked funds occur prior to the end of the 2016 federal
fiscal year, as mandated by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016.
Requires the Dept. of Transportation and Development to fund and utilize the Baton Rouge
Metropolitan Planning Organization to procure and manage the production of the Stage I
Environmental Study.
Requires the Dept. of Transportation and Development enter into construction phase
contracts for the widening and improvement of any intersection on La. Hwy. 30 within one
year of securing the funding.
Page 3 of 3