Work on La. Hwy 106 is to be funded in 2024

By: HEATHER BOGARD
Associate Editor

Senator Heather Cloud and Representative Rhonda Butler brought good news regarding roadways in Evangeline Parish during the December 18, meeting of the Evangeline Parish Police Jury. Cloud thanked DOTD Undersecretary Barry Keeling for his assistance and being a “lifeline for us and that safe place for us to go to” for the last couple of years. Cloud stated there has been a perception she and Butler haven’t been working on road funding. “The truth is, we inherited a huge backlog of deplorable roads all throughout this parish” Cloud explained.
One of the reasons for such bad roads, Cloud noted, was the lack of federally approved roads, which is a certain criteria to meet in order to draw down federal funds. She noted Evangeline Parish has so few federally approved roads and they were not able to draw down funds. Non federally approved roads get left out for too long because they don’t have the appearance of a good investment. She stated Highway 13 as an example, saying “You would think that is a federally approved road but it is not.”
Cloud noted a problem with funding sources is the state is drawing down dollars for certain road priorities and not funding everything else. She said it has been difficult to find buckets of money to change the narrative and start putting money into the roads we need. Cloud added it is the same situation with airports, non federally funded airports get less funding dollars than airports that are federally funded. Cloud added, “We can’t do anything in the House alone or the Senate alone. We have to work together to get things funded with the great help of people like Mr. Keeling.”
Butler stated, with assistance from Keeling, they came up with a formula and worked with the local governments to push road projects through. She shared, “We work hard for everything we get, not just roads, we fight for water, sewer, everything in our rural areas. We hope with this new administration a lot of people will work with us.
Cloud added Governor-Elect Landry wants to depoliticize the way roads are funded, which is beginning immediately. She said all of this could not have been done without the helped of the police jury who trusted us. “We went the back way to get roads funded through capital outlay. In order for that to happen, the local entity has to put in an application for the state to fund its own roads.”
Cloud stated, “Highway 106 from Pine Prairie to the Allen Parish line has been on the bill for four years. All of us have waited so long for all of this. We don’t want any more excuses, we just don’t want our children to be killed on these roads anymore.” She added, “Tonight, we celebrate because we are finally getting this road done.” She added the next road on the list is the other side of Highway 106 (from Bayou Chicot to the Avoyelles Parish line), which should be done by late 2024.
Butler emphasized, “We are excited about these roads. I don’t want anyone in Evangeline Parish or the district to think we are not working on any of the roads.”
Cloud added she is pushing hard to keep Keeling on with the new administration because, “He has just been a wealth of information, resource and remedy.”
Keeling shared, “You are very lucky to have Senator Cloud and Representative Butler on your team. They are very instrumental in helping a lot of these things go through. They work well with the department and look for solutions to make things happen. Because of their perseverance and dedication to the parish, a lot of good things are happening.”
Keeling noted the Highway 13 between 167 and 104 is in progress and the Highway 757 to 104 is complete. He stated the LA 104 to the Allen Parish line project will begin later this year.
He said there is a lot of opportunity right now with the new administration coming in, which will be beneficial to rural communities. Keeling discussed the road transfer program, stating Cloud and Butler are instrumental in getting extra road transfer funds into the budget to accelerate the project for this year.
Cloud stated Louisiana has more state-owned road miles than Texas, noting a reduction of 18 percent would be needed to reach the national average. She said the state has taken on ownership of roads that never should have been state roads. As a result, the state ended up with all of these roads across the state and there is not enough money to fix all of them. She said the road transfer program is a way to start reducing the number of state roads in the state purview and help reduce liability. Keeling added there is a backlog of road transfers, which would take five years and approximately $400 million to catch up.
Cloud stated the DOTD performance map shows every parish across the state and Evangeline Parish has an alarming amount of red indicating bad roads. Cloud closed by saying they will continue “chugging away” to improve the roads in Evangeline Parish. Butler added, “We were very fortunate to land on great committees. To be put on the finance and weighs and means committees is a plus for us. We will keep pushing forward.”
Juror Kevin Veillon asked about LA 29, noting the Whiteville and Tate Cove Roads are both in bad shape. Butler said someone on the federal side approached her to talk about funding for that road now that an economic development authority has been formed and leads to the Industrial Park. Butler said they can drive funds to us and she will meet with them. Keeling added that road is in the system and in design. They are looking at 2025 to begin work on these roads. Veillon was very appreciative to hear the news from Butler and Keeling.
For more from Monday night’s meeting, pick up a copy of the Sunday, December 24, edition of the Ville Platte Gazette.