Hopes high for I-12 work

• By WILL SENTELL
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Mar 7, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Baton Rouge area legislative leaders said Thursday they are confident the Legislature will approve Gov. Bobby Jindal’s $100 million plan to widen a heavily traveled stretch of Interstate 12 to six lanes.

Sen. Dale Erdey, R-Livingston, noted that the project — O’Neal Lane to Range Avenue — is in the zone where 10 people died in wrecks over a three-month period last year.

“This is huge for East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes and the region, to eliminate the traffic backing up that we see every day,” said Erdey, vice-chairman of the Senate Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee.

The I-12 plan is one of numerous high-profile projects that have been delayed for years because of Louisiana’s $14 billion backlog.

House Ways and Means Chairman Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge, echoed Erdey’s view that Jindal’s proposal will win approval during a special session that begins Sunday.

“I think it will go through,” Greene said of the I-12 project. “I certainly see that as being a priority.”

The I-12 work is one of the key items on Jindal’s plan to spend the state’s $1.1 billion surplus.

The widening plan would account for about $100 million of the governor’s plan to allocate $515 million for transportation and infrastructure improvements.

However, even if lawmakers approve the plan, it will be at least 2010 before work begins, said Mark Lambert, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation and Development.

Environmental hurdles and other permit requirements are key reasons for the two-year delay.

Lambert said the project will include the replacement of bridges in both directions over the Amite River.

Widening I-12 from O’Neal Lane to Range Avenue covers about three miles. Construction would take between 2 1/2 to three years, Lambert said.

That means it could be 2013 before the project is done even if lawmakers approve it this month.