The LA 1 Improvement Project passed a comprehensive and rigorous Environmental Impact Study process, and the Record of Decision to build the elevated highway is authorized by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration in agreement with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
In a thorough and public review, spanning more than three years, all environmental permits were completed in 2004. These documents call for state of the art end-on construction, which nearly eliminates the construction impacts upon wetlands.
Louisiana residents and businesses have agreed to pay tolls for the next 30 years to repay a federal transportation loan and bond sales that funded construction of Phase 1 of the LA 1 project, which was completed in 2011. Now, our local financing capability for this nationally critical highway corridor is exhausted.
Project Timeline
2001 – Congress recognizes LA 1 as a “High Priority Corridor.”
2004 – All environmental permits for the LA 1 Project are completed.
2006 – Construction begins on Phases 1B,1C, and 1D of the LA 1 Project – a two-lane overpass at Leeville, interchanges and toll facility
2007 – Construction begins on Phase 1A of the LA 1 Project – a two-lane elevated highway between Leeville and Port Fourchon
2009 – New Leeville Overpass is completed and opens to traffic.
2011 – Phase 1 of the LA 1 Project completed and new 5.8-miles Phase 1A elevated highway from Leeville to Port Fourchon opens to traffic.
2011 – A Department of Homeland Security study estimates up to a $7.8 billion loss of Gross Domestic Product should the 7.1-mile section of at-grade LA 1 between Golden Meadow and Leeville be impassable for 90 days.
2014 – A study by LSU economist Dr. Loren Scott projects that for every hour one lane of LA 1 is hut down, there is a $22 million economic impact.
2018 – Construction begins on Phase 2E of the LA 1 Improvement Project.
2020 – Construction on Phase 2E is completed and opens to traffic.
2022 – Construction begins on Phase 2 Segments A-D of the LA 1 Improvement Project from Golden Meadow to Leeville.
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