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WINNER: Innovative Management – Large Project “The highway improvements have increased traffic coming through town and we’re getting a lot more business.” Joyce Spears King The Louisiana TIMED Program is delivering one of the most ambitious and innovative infrastructure programs in the United States. The $5 billion program has resulted in almost 500 miles of improved roads, a new port, airport upgrades, and two bridge projects spanning the Mississippi River. It is funded with a dedicated 4-cents-per-gallon gas tax approved in 1989 by the state legislature and voters. To date, more than 100 projects (some making up segments of larger projects) have been completed, including more than 410 miles of widened roadways, the Port of New Orleans, Louis Armstrong International Airport, LA-15, US-90 West Napoleon Avenue, Tchoupitoulas Street, and West Bank Expressway. In addition, the 172-mile, four-laning of US-165 was completed in April 2010. A new crossing over the Mississippi River, the John James Audubon Bridge, and a new 14-mile roadway will be completed in 2011. The widening of the Huey P Long Bridge in New Orleans will also be finished in 2013. Along with having a consultant program manager come on board in 2002, funding of the program was converted from “pay-as-you go” to “bond-financed.” Innovative project delivery methods were also put in place, such as expediting right-of-way methods, utility relocations, and environmental permitting. These factors have allowed delivery of projects 20 years sooner than the original 2031 completion date. The widened roadways, new bridges, and expanded ports created by the Louisiana TIMED Program are benefitting the residents of Louisiana by creating economic development opportunities for business, improving vital evacuation routes, and making critical freight corridors safer and more efficient. The project has also delivered job creation as thousands of Louisiana workers are building these projects every day. More information is available at www.timedla.com . |
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America's Transportation Awards 