ENROLLED
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
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Department of Transportation and Development to repurpose
congressional funds earmarked for the planning, design, and construction of the
Pointe Clair Expressway for the widening and improvement of certain portions of
Louisiana Highway 30.
WHEREAS, Louisiana Highway 30 is used as a major thoroughfare by those who
live and work in the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and Iberville; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana Highway 30 is a vitally important state route in the parishes
of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and Iberville, not only because of the growth of new
residential neighborhoods and increased economic development in those areas, but because
the two-lane highway is already a major business and commuter corridor and widening
portions of this highway can ease heavy traffic congestion currently being experienced on
Interstate Highway 10; and
WHEREAS, the role of Louisiana Highway 30 as a commuter corridor will only
intensify with further congestion on Interstate 10 and the strong possibility that a new
Mississippi River bridge will tie into it; and
WHEREAS, studies have shown that building a new bridge without an improved
Louisiana Highway 30 would leave traffic stuck on that highway, effectively undermining
the added capacity of a new one-billion-dollar bridge; and
WHEREAS, the traffic congestion on Louisiana Highway 30 has made the route
inconvenient to motorists traveling in the area and the widening and improvement of the
highway in the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and Iberville would alleviate
growing traffic congestion; and
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WHEREAS, prior to September 30, 2005, two million four hundred three thousand
five hundred forty dollars was earmarked for the plan, design, and construction of the Pointe
Clair Expressway in Iberville Parish; and
WHEREAS, Section 125 of the Department of Transportation Appropriations Act,
2016 (Pub. L. No. 114-113, Division L, Title I), provides the authority for a state or territory
to repurpose any earmark that was designated on or before September 30, 2005, and is less
than ten percent obligated or final vouchered and closed; and
WHEREAS, the repurposed funds may be obligated on a new or existing project in
the state within fifty miles of the earmark designation and the Consolidated Appropriations
Act of 2016 requires the redesignation of these funds occur prior to the end of the 2016
federal fiscal year; and
WHEREAS, the potential redirection of these funds does not diminish the importance
of the Pointe Clair Expressway project; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana Highway 30, in the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge,
and Iberville, is within the congressional designated fifty-mile radius of the geographical
area for which the funding was originally designated.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Transportation and
Development to repurpose congressional funds earmarked for the planning, design, and
construction of the Pointe Clair Expressway in Iberville Parish to fund the design and
construction of needed improvements to the intersections of Louisiana Highway 74 and
Louisiana Highway 30 in Saint Gabriel, Louisiana, Louisiana Highway 73 and Louisiana
Highway 30 in Geismar, Louisiana, and Louisiana Highway 30 at Veterans Boulevard in
Gonzales, Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the redesignation of these funds should occur
prior to the end of the 2016 federal fiscal year as required by the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2016.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation and
Development should fund and utilize the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Planning Organization,
which includes the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and Iberville and enter into
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design and construction phase contracts for the widening and improvement of any
intersection on Louisiana Highway 30 within one year.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
to the Department of Transportation and Development.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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