HLS 16RS-4809 ENGROSSED
2016 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 188
BY REPRESENTATIVES STEVE CARTER, BACALA, BERTHELOT, CHAD BROWN,
TERRY BROWN, CARPENTER, DAVIS, EDMONDS, FOIL, GISCLAIR,
HOWARD, JAMES, JORDAN, MARCELLE, PIERRE, PRICE, SMITH, AND
THIBAUT
TRANSPORTATION DEPT: Urges and requests the Department of Transportation and
Development to repurpose certain congressional earmarked funds for the planning,
design, and construction of widening and improving of certain portions of Louisiana
Highway 30
1 A RESOLUTION
2To urge and request the Department of Transportation and Development to repurpose
3 congressional funds earmarked for the planning, design, and construction of the
4 Pointe Clair Expressway for the widening and improvement of certain portions of
5 Louisiana 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
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HR NO. 188
1 WHEREAS, studies have shown that building a new bridge without an improved
2Louisiana Highway 30 would leave traffic stuck on that highway, effectively undermining
3the added capacity of a new one-billion-dollar bridge; and
4 WHEREAS, the traffic congestion on Louisiana Highway 30 has made the route
5inconvenient to motorists traveling in the area and the widening and improvement of the
6highway in the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and Iberville would alleviate
7growing traffic congestion; and
8 WHEREAS, prior to September 30, 2005, two million four hundred three thousand
9five hundred forty dollars was earmarked for the plan, design, and construction of the Pointe
10Clair Expressway in Iberville Parish; and
11 WHEREAS, Section 125 of the Department of Transportation Appropriations Act,
122016 (Pub. L. No. 114-113, Division L, Title I), provides the authority for a state or territory
13to repurpose any earmark that was designated on or before September 30, 2005, and is less
14than ten percent obligated or final vouchered and closed; and
15 WHEREAS, the repurposed funds may be obligated on a new or existing project in
16the state within fifty miles of the earmark designation and the Consolidated Appropriations
17Act of 2016 requires the redesignation of these funds occur prior to the end of the 2016
18federal fiscal year; and
19 WHEREAS, the potential redirection of these funds does not diminish the importance
20of the Pointe Clair Expressway project; and
21 WHEREAS, Louisiana Highway 30, in the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge,
22and Iberville, is within the congressional designated fifty-mile radius of the geographical
23area for which the funding was originally designated; and
24 WHEREAS, in order to receive future participating federal funds, the next step
25needed for the Louisiana Highway 30 improvements is a Stage I Environmental Study.
26 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
27Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Transportation and
28Development to repurpose congressional funds earmarked for the planning, design, and
29construction of the Pointe Clair Expressway in Iberville Parish, and to secure the state match
30of six hundred thousand eight hundred eighty-five dollars for the planning, design, and
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HR NO. 188
1construction of the widening of Louisiana Highway 30 by first funding one million five
2hundred thousand dollars of the three million four thousand four hundred twenty-five dollars
3in available unobligated funds for the Stage I Environmental Study of widening Louisiana
4Highway 30 from West Lee Drive/Brightside Lane to United States Highway 61, and
5subsequently utilizing the remainder to fund the design and construction of needed
6improvements to the intersection of Louisiana Highway 74 and Louisiana Highway 30 in
7Saint Gabriel, Louisiana.
8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the redesignation of these funds should occur
9prior to the end of the 2016 federal fiscal year as required by the Consolidated
10Appropriations Act of 2016.
11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation and
12Development should fund and utilize the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Planning Organization,
13which includes the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and Iberville, to procure and
14manage the production of the Stage I Environmental Study and once funding is secured, the
15department should enter into construction phase contracts for the widening and improvement
16of any intersection on Louisiana Highway 30 within one year.
17 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
18to 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 Engrossed 2016 Regular Session Steve Carter
Urges and requests 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.
Provides that the redesignation of the earmarked funds should occur prior to the end of the
2016 federal fiscal year, as mandated by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016.
Provides that the Dept. of Transportation and Development should fund and utilize the Baton
Rouge Metropolitan Planning Organization to procure and manage the production of the
Stage I Environmental Study.
Provides that the Dept. of Transportation and Development should enter into construction
phase contracts for the widening and improvement of any intersection on La. Hwy. 30 within
one year of securing the funding.
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HR NO. 188
Summary of Amendments Adopted by House
The Committee Amendments Proposed by House Committee on Transportation,
Highways and Public Works to the original bill:
1. Urge and request the Dept. of Transportation and Development to repurpose the
congressional funds earmarked for the planning, design, and construction of the
Pointe Clair Expressway and utilize the funds for the widening and improvement
of La. Hwy. 30 instead of directing the Dept. of Transportation and Development
to repurpose the earmarked congressional funds for the widening and
improvement of La. Hwy 30.
2. Clarify that the potential redirection of these earmarked funds does not diminish
the importance of the Pointe Clair Expressway project.
3. Make technical changes.
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