The critical, two-lane highway called LA 1 in southern Lafourche Parish is the only roadway supporting Port Fourchon, America’s busiest intermodal energy port, as well as the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), and Grand Isle. Combined, these service over 16 percent of America’s domestic crude oil production and 4 percent of natural gas production. The highway also supports seafood production and coastal restoration efforts, and provides for hurricane evacuation and access to eco-tourism destinations like Grand Isle, Louisiana’s only inhabited barrier island.
LA 1 is important to:
ENERGY and PORT FOURCHON
• LA 1 and Port Fourchon have a $3.4 Billion economic impact on the state of Louisiana, including $2.8 billion in sales and $657 million in household earnings, according to a 2014 economic impact study by economist Dr. Loren Scott.
• Port Fourchon and LA 1 currently support 100 percent of deepwater oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, representing approximately $4.5 billion in revenue to the U.S. Treasury.
• 270 vessels depart from Port Fourchon per day, delivering equipment and supplies to offshore oil and gas operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The equipment and supplies arrive at the port on commercial trucks via LA 1.
• Over 24,000 commercial trucks travel to Port Fourchon along LA 1 during peak months.
SEAFOOD
• LA 1 serves as the “Gulf to Market” Road for the bountiful production and distribution of Louisiana shrimp, oysters, crabs and fish in the waters along southern Lafourche Parish and Grand Isle.
• In 2017, the coastal region supported by LA 1 produced over $41 million of seafood, including:
- 7,835,368 pounds of shrimp valued at $31,892,307
- 5,988.856 pounds of crabs valued at $6,479,500
- 773,289 pounds of finfish valued at $728,183
- 387,469 pounds of oysters valued at $1,930,527
COASTAL RESTORATION
• LA 1 is the sole highway route to barrier island and marsh restoration projects in southern Lafourche and Jefferson parishes.
• One such effort is the Belle Pass-Golden Meadow Marsh Creation Project, which created 23,200 acres of marsh along the LA 1 corridor to provide new wetland habitat and restore degraded marsh.
• A total of $528,900,240 in Louisiana Coastal Master Plan projects in this region have been completed or are in the design or planning phase, all requiring access provided by LA 1 from Golden Meadow to Grand Isle.
ECO-TOURISM
• LA 1 is the only road serving the popular eco-tourism destinations of Grand Isle, Elmer’s Island and Fourchon.
• Tourism spending provide important revenue for the Town of Grand Isle, which anticipated $480,000 in sales tax receipts in 2018 from purchases at local hotels, motels, retails stores, souvenir shops, and restaurants.
RECREATIONAL & SPORT FISHING
• LA 1 supports 52 charter fishing companies in South Lafourche and Grand Isle.
• LA 1 also serves as the only highway for local recreational fishermen to reach docks and launch sites in the region.
HURRICANE EVACUATION
• 1,200 residents of Grand Isle and up to 15,000 visitors during peak travel season rely on LA 1 to evacuate the region in advance of tropical storms and hurricanes, along with thousands of workers from Port Fourchon and offshore oil and gas operations.