James Construction is scheduled to begin work on the southern section of Phase 2 (from the existing Leeville Bridge heading north) in September 2023, after the Port Commission completes the dredging work on that section where the bridge will be built. When the work begins on the southern section, the contractor will have two sections of the bridge under construction at one time!
The LA 1 Coalition would like to thank the Greater Lafourche Port Commission for their $3 million+ contribution of providing the federally required mitigation work for the entire 19-mile project. That mitigation work includes restoring over 100 acres of wetlands through the beneficial utilization of dredge materials at various locations. One area you can see these restored wetlands is to the left of the toll gantry heading south on the elevated bridge in Leeville. This area has beautiful healthy marsh now, which used to be open water.
This tremendous work paid for by the Greater Lafourche Port Commission is in addition to the match funds the port is providing to LA DOTD of $25 million to be paid out over a 5-year period. The port’s significant match pledge, along with pledges from Lafourche Parish Government and over 15 companies, helped the project win the largest federal transportation grant that the USDOT issued in 2019 at $143 million! That grant award was critical to getting this last segment of elevated LA 1’s finance plan complete. Thanks again to the Greater Lafourche Port Commission, Lafourche Parish Government, and 15 civic-minded corporations for partnering with our community and our state to move the project toward completion!
The entire project’s construction is being monitored by the consulting engineering firm ECM Consultants. Their work includes monitoring critical tasks like pile driving and the pouring of the road deck. Our community will benefit from this work with a safer, more resilient highway access to our coast at Port Fourchon. The completion of Phase 2 of the LA 1 Improvement Project (Golden Meadow to Leeville) is scheduled for July 2027, according to the contract timeline.
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