Ribbon-cutting was yesterday; it should be open to traffic by Monday:
http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20111209/HURBLOG/111209556/1319?Title=Elevated-highway-to-open-by-Monday"An elevated highway between Leeville and Port Fourchon will be open to motorists by Monday, marking a major step in a years-long effort to replace sinking La. 1 ...
La. 1, which has long suffered from erosion and neglect, is the only route linking the rest of the state and nation to Port Fourchon, a national oil hub that serves as the supply point for more than half of all oil-and-gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.
The highway routinely floods when it rains during strong winds and at high tide. Tropical weather can close the road for days ...
Henri Boulet, executive director of the La. 1 coalition, said the highway will be open by Monday at the latest. Crews were still painting stripes on the road.
The project aims to eventually connect Fourchon to U.S. 90 with an elevated highway, a $1.5 billion investment. The La. 1 improvement project was split into four separate phases. The Leeville connection marks the completion of phase 1.
Phase 2, with a price tag of about $45 million, will connect the highway to Golden Meadow.
The La. 1 Coalition, made up of business and government interests, has asked the federal government to pay about one-third of the construction cost of Phase 2 ...
Advocates are also hoping that Department of Homeland Security study released this week will also help make their case. The study found that a 90-day closure of La. 1 — and the resulting closure of Port Fourchon — would result in a loss of $7.8 billion in the nation’s gross domestic product. GDP is a measure of an area’s total economic output. It represents the market value of all goods and services produced.
Nearly $4 billion of that loss would come from the parishes surrounding Port Fourchon, including Terrebonne and Lafourche.
He said the federal government’s decision on whether La. 1 will receive money is due Dec. 31.
Phases 3 and 4, estimated to cost more than $900 million combined, have no money dedicated to them."
