No Roads, Slow Roads, or Toll Roads ...

The Louisiana Legislature recognizes that new models of finance are needed, too. State legislation was enacted in Louisiana in 1997, 2001 and 2003 regarding the creation of toll authorities to plan, design, construct, and operate toll roads. This legislation includes a bill that permits the formation of local toll authorities for any Parish or contiguous Parishes in the state (1997), the Louisiana Transportation Authority (LTA) which has statewide jurisdiction for toll roads (2001), and the LMEC toll authority charged specifically with implementing a loop around Lafayette (2003). These actions by the legislature indicate an understanding and recognition of the need for highway improvements in Louisiana and the lack of funding available from traditional sources to implement these improvements.

Innovative Financing

Perhaps the most important element in current plans to move forward on the Baton Rouge Loop is that opportunities for financing are in place that have not been available in the past.

These new financing opportunities have been made available by the legislature in the form of both the Transportation Mobility Fund and Public-Private Partnership legislation passed in the 2006 session. These innovative financing tools are being used in other states to develop needed mega-projects that cannot be developed by traditional means of financing. They are geared towards using toll revenues (user fees) as the driving force to assembling a viable comprehensive financing package.

As Louisiana moves forward with these new financing models, it is important for the Baton Rouge Loop program to be a top priority in terms of grants from the Mobility Fund and for consideration of private investments.

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Legislation

In 2006 Act 304 became law providing the opportunity for private investment in Louisiana’s transportation system. This legislation provides another tool to develop comprehensive financing arrangements and new methods of project delivery. The PPP approach, like the Mobility Fund, will be geared to projects that are viable as toll road projects. The PPP legislation can be used in combination with the Mobility Fund legislation and other financing components to help craft creative financing packages.