U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is traveling today to highlight infrastructure investments from President Biden's bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
The first stop on the Transportation Secretary's trip is Lake Charles, Louisiana to celebrate $150 Million in grant funding to help replace the I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge. Buttigieg will be joined by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, Louisiana Secretary of Transportation Shawn Wilson, and Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter.
The funds supporting the Calcasieu River Bridge are administered through the Mega Grant Program, which supports large projects that will have regional economic impacts.
The I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge Project will extend from the I-10/I-210 west interchange to east of the Ryan Street exit ramp on the east side of the bridge and will reconstruct the Calcasieu River Bridge and the interstate mainline, and improve and reconfigure a segment of LA 378 from I-10 to Sulphur Avenue. This $1.5 billion project will increase capacity by providing three thru lanes in each direction, with shoulders and center barriers, a lower approach incline, increased overheard clearance and improved interchanges.
After Lake Charles, Buttigieg will be in Port Arthur, Texas to celebrate a $13.2 million grant. the funding will help Port. Arthur expand the capacity of the port, improve the efficiency of freight movement, and lower emissions.
These projects are some of the first major grant recipients from the first year of funding of the IIJA.
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Source: KPLCTV.com, KATC.com
