LA Gov. Blanco Lays Out Immediate Infrastructure Needs For Metro New Orleans

[alon504]

Governor Kathleen Blanco laid out the first of emergency, immediate needs for infrastucture improvements in SE Louisiana with more to come. Immediately the State of LA wants construction to begin on a new elevated 6 lane I-10 bridge over Lake Pontchartrain connecting New Orleans East to Slidell. Construction is expected to begin immediately on completing I-49 from New Orleans to Lafayette, and I-10 between Baton Rouge and New Orleans will be widened from 4 to 6 lanes. Other immediate needs are to upgrade all levees to category 5 proof around Metro New Orleans, Houma, Plaquemines Parish (restore MS River levees), St. Bernard Parish, and the Atchafalaya Basin. Also, the interstate system will need to be repaved in Metro New Orleans. More to come. Heard her press conference on MSNBC about 2 hours ago. I think she placed the price tag of these just under $30 Billion and the state wants and needs construction to begin immediately on all of these projects.

[StevenRocks]

In some ways, it seems like a lot, but really, all of that is needed.

[TSmith]

It's about time that they widen I-10 between B.R. and N.O. This has been needed for 25 years. Also, reconstruction and widening of the twinspans have been needed also. Hopefully they'll address the I-59 N exit, which bottlenecks traffic down to one lane. The levee project is an absolute must if we ever expect anyone to rebuild in New Orleans. Good news.