U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany told House lawmakers on Wednesday that the Interstate 10 bridge in its current state is a limitation, given the tens of billions of dollars invested in industrial expansion projects.

Boustany, R-Lafayette, made the comments during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing that focused on long-term funding solutions for roads and bridges. He said improving the I-10 bridge should not remain on hold.

“The bridge is increasingly dangerous,” he said. “The maintenance schedule is escalated. We’ve got to fix this.”

Boustany also spoke of the need to complete I-49 South, a project that has “been on books for 21⁄2 decades.”

“This is the energy corridor for the country,” he said. “It links key ports and key energy infrastructure that supplies this country.”

Boustany said I-49 also serves as a hurricane evacuation route and that the number of fatal accidents on the interstate has risen.

On funding mechanisms, the congressman said the best option would be moving toward a “broad-based and sustainable” user fee system.

“Infrastructure basically serves the key elements of growth, whether it’s energy sector, the international trade and exports,” Boustany said.

He said he does not support the idea of augmenting the motor fuel tax with a per-barrel fee on crude oil. Doing that, he said, makes it difficult to separate the user fees from those who consume crude-based products “that are not part of the highway system.”

“I think it would also cause serious competitive harm,” Boustany said. “We are now seeing our refineries for the first time in many decades being competitive.”

Robert Poole from the Reason Foundation agreed with Boustany’s concerns, saying it would have “all kinds of unintended negative consequences in other parts of the economy.”

(American Press Archives)