Press Releases

U.S. Congressman Garret Graves stressed the importance of the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program today at the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's hearing with Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Pete Buttigieg. INFRA was made possible due to a Graves' amendment to the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which requires that projects that provide a return on investment and solve traffic problems receive priority consideration for INFRA grants.

As a member of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and as the sole member of Louisiana's delegation, Congressman Garret Graves attended and was able to advocate for the state's needs. The hearing was one of the first steps in laying the groundwork for federal investments into Louisiana's transportation and infrastructure priorities – especially as Congress must pass a new surface transportation bill this year.

When discussing the INFRA program and the criteria, objectives and goals put forth to advance the program, Graves said:

"We Included a number of things I think were important: efficiency in transportation system, mobility, national energy security, resiliency and others. I was disheartened when I read the press release coming from Department of Transportation that indicated climate change, racial equality and environmental justice were the priorities. Those are not in the statute, yet, the statutory objectives weren't mentioned."

Graves asked Buttigieg about how under the new criteria for INFRA grants set by the current DOT, there is apparent disregard for legal requirements in exchange for unquantifiable political objectives. The key program objectives established distort, undermine, and even contradict the objectives required by law. Graves first brought the issue to Buttigieg's attention last week prior to the hearing.

Louisiana has benefited from INFRA. Most recently, it was announced Louisiana Highway 1 was receiving a $135 million grant from DOT to construct approximately 8.3 miles of elevated highway from Leeville Bridge to Golden Meadow. It was the largest transportation grant awarded in the nation. Graves first brought this national energy security idea to Secretary Elaine Chao on November 2, 2017.

How Louisiana benefitted from the FAST Act items:

In 2015, Graves was a co-author and conferee to the FAST Act's landmark legislative committee, helping to finalize negotiations, which included the INFRA grant program and several other provisions mentioned below. As a result, a $500 million boost came to Louisiana's federal transportation funding and the new, $1 billion annual grant program. Overall, the FAST Act was designed to address Louisiana's traffic problems and provide substantial increases in federal highway funding for Louisiana.

For South Louisiana, the FAST Act paved the way for major projects to become a reality such as the Terrace St. Exit, Pecue Exit, I-10 widening from Highland Rd. to LA-73, LA-1 from Leeville to Golden Meadow, and I-10 improvements in Lafayette.

The FAST Act also provided $100 million more in federal transportation grant funds that have 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.

On August 30, 2018, Graves announced the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) awarded $80,699,190 in new federal funding to Louisiana to advance the I-10 interchange at Pecue Lane.

About the future transportation and infrastructure bill:

Later this spring, it is expected the committee will move on an infrastructure package as part of the president's "Build Back Better" platform. Within the larger package, it is likely there will be the "must-pass" reauthorizations that Congress must therefore take into consideration, which snowballs into other transportation bills becoming included into the total outcome. The current surface transportation bill in place, the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, is set to expire on September 30, 2021, has to be reauthorized as the bill was extended last year before expiration.

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