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WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman Garret Graves, member of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, released the following statement after an extra $65,072,864 in federal funding was awarded to Louisiana for transportation and infrastructure projects.

These announced funds from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) build on top of the $1 billion in new grants, formula funding and reallocation dollars Graves helped secure through the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.  More information about the FAST Act can be found below.

“We’ve worked to secure over $1 billion in federal funds the last few years and the flexibility of these specific funds will help solve real transportation needs in our community immediately. By securing more federal dollars for Louisiana, we are freeing up other funding to advance key traffic priorities. Every bit helps. We will keep pushing to get projects finished – whether the Pecue Lane exit, the Washington St./I-10 land reconfiguration, LA 1 improvements, a new Mississippi River bridge or others – as we must fix our traffic crisis. This is an important part of the estimated $8 billion in record infrastructure funds we’ve secured for south Louisiana,” Graves said.

Last year, Louisiana received $14,350,478 from this extra funding reallocation. 

About the FAST Act:

In 2015, Graves was a co-author and conferee on the FAST Act’s landmark infrastructure bill, helping to finalize negotiations, which included many provisions designed to address Louisiana’s traffic problems and substantial increases in federal highway funding for our state. As a co-author and negotiator, Graves helped secure several items in the transportation law.

As a result, Louisiana received $500 million in federal transportation funding and benefitted from the new, $1 billion annual grant program.

For South Louisiana, the 2015 FAST Act paved the way for major projects to become a reality such as the Terrace St. Exit, Pecue Lane Exit, I-10 widening from Highland Rd. to LA-73, LA-1 from Leeville to Golden Meadow, and port development (to help promote Louisiana’s economic competitiveness). The FAST Act provided $60 million more in federal transportation grant funds that resulted in the Terrace/Washington street exit reconfiguration and I-10 lane addition (Highland Road to Prairieville/Dutchtown exit). Graves spoke at the construction ceremony for the work to begin the reconfiguration of the Washington St. exit, what Graves called a game-changer and a smart fix for a stupid problem.