The Louisiana Department of Transportation will receive $45 million for the Belle Chasse Bridge and Tunnel replacement.
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao joined Senator Bill Cassidy in announced the $45 million grant provided through the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America discretionary grant program.
The project will replace the more than 60-year-old tunnel and the structural steel vertical-lift bridge crossing the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The replacement bridge will include four lanes and a separate protected pedestrian/bicycle lane.
Part of the plan will include tolls. Officials say they are needed to pay for construction.
The $45 million grant will be combined with money leaders have secured including, 26.2 million from the National Highway Performance Program and an additional $12 million from Surface Transportation Funding. That will total more than $80 million for what is an estimated $125 million project.
Leaders are now reviewing proposals to build the bridge, hoping to pick one out by October 2019.