Louisiana

Louisiana wants to give away Highway 90 bridges to be repurposed

Published

1 year ago

August 17, 2024

Louisiana wants to give away Highway 90 bridges to be repurposed

PEARLINGTON, Ms. (WVUE) – Residents in a small Mississippi community believe their town is dying a slow death as a major artery connecting Louisiana and Mississippi remains closed for more than two years, and the state in charge of the closed road says it’s seeking potential takers for historic yet unnavigable bridges.

Highway 90, which serves as an eastbound exit from New Orleans to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, has been shuttered since May 2022 when inspections found four bridges to be structurally unsafe for drivers.

Pearlington, Mississippi sits on the edge of the state line, along the thoroughfare where cars used to pass from the other side of the water on a daily basis.

“Pearlington is a small town of about 1,000 families, and it is reducing every day,” said Michael Mavenyengwa, owner of the Pearlington Rocket Express.

His business used to function as a gas station and convenience store, but he said he hasn’t been able to afford to keep the pumps running.

“Due to that closure, we have experienced a major loss of business. We have lost maybe 50 to 75 percent of our business,” Mavenyengwa said. “The income we are having, the problems we are having, cannot sustain maintaining the pumps and paying all the bills we need to pay.”

“My business is dying.”

He said Pearlington has many older residents who would often take 90 to the hospital in Slidell.

When accidents on I-10 cause backups or closures of the highway, there is no other way to reach Louisiana or vice versa without traveling to Picayune, Mississippi.

“We feel like we are Americans like everybody else and pay taxes, and we are here trying to survive. It’s where we want to live,” Mavenyengwa said. “We need help here. Because 5 years, 10 years or 2028, maybe this town will be extinct.”

Louisiana is in charge of the bridges, and state and local leaders have often called for an expedited replacement.

But the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) said the replacement would cost over $300 million, and the state currently has a backlog of road repairs and infrastructure upgrades totaling more than $18 billion.

The state said it is seeking proposals for the removal of four bridges, all built in the 1930s: West Pearl River Bridge, West Middle Pearl River Bridge, Middle Pearl River Bridge, and East Middle Pearl River Bridge.

Each would cost approximately $520,000 to demolish, which the state will eventually have to do if an entity can’t be found to remove and repurpose the bridges.

“We need to get these bridges removed from our waterways,” said Daniel Gitlin with DOTD. “If they’re not going to be fixed, if they can’t be reconditioned, we cannot just leave them out there in the water, these are protected environmental waters.”

Gitlin said DOTD is currently in the environmental studies phase of the bridge replacement project.

Latest estimates put the replacement of the bridges sometime in 2028, but it’s unclear whether the state remains on that timeline still.

“This may be an opportunity for local governments, maybe St. Tammany, or some of the cities down there, to say, ‘Hey, we would like to relocate this to a public park,’” Gitlin said. “The state will not only give the bridges away, but they will pay for the cost of basically what it would take.”

MORE

DOTD closes multiple bridges in the New Orleans region

Pearl River bridge closures choking traffic, businesses east of New Orleans

For Pearlington residents, a fix may be awhile away. Gitlin said patch repairs to the bridges, which are more than 90 years old, would only extend their lifespan by a year or two.

Marine traffic has to be considered in the replacement, and so the ideal scenario would be one long spanning bridge over the water, he said.

But it comes down to securing the funding to do so.

“When you’re talking about state funding and you’re talking about groups like the transportation committees in Baton Rouge, they’re going to be looking at the long-term effect of how we spend our money and what we can do for the community,” Gitlin said.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Subscribe to the Fox 8 YouTube channel.

Source link

Related Topics:90 bridge closures DOTD environment Featured giving away highway Hwy LA Louisiana remove replacement repurpose

Click to comment

Louisiana

Women and men in Louisiana experience different kinds of violence, study finds

Published

3 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Women and men in Louisiana experience different kinds of violence, study finds

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana Illuminator) – More than half of adults in Louisiana have experienced physical violence during their lifetime but what those acts look like largely depends on the victim’s gender, according to an annual survey conducted last year.

In Louisiana, gun violence is much more likely to be carried out against men, while severe intimate partner violence — sometimes referred to as domestic abuse — is much more likely to happen to women, showed the result of a study by Tulane University, the University of California San Diego and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

“Violence is a gendered issue. It is different if you are a man or a woman or a boy or a girl,” Anita Raj, executive director of the Newcomb Institute at Tulane University and the study’s lead author, said in an interview.

Raj’s survey, the Louisiana Study on Violence Experiences Across the Lifespan, is the only comprehensive research of its kind conducted in the state. It was administered online in English and Spanish between May 13 and June 18, 2025, to more than 1,000 Louisiana residents 18 and older.

The survey shows Louisiana residents experience violence at an alarmingly high rate. Eight percent of people surveyed said they were subjected to physical violence in the past year, including 3% who said they were threatened with either a knife or a gun.

Who commits the violence and what form it takes largely depends on the victim’s gender.

Over half of women (58%) who had experienced physical violence within a year of the survey reported their spouse or partner were responsible for the incidents, compared with just 14% of men. Most men (53%) who had experienced physical violence in that time period said they were targeted by a stranger, compared with just 5% of women, according to the report.

Men were much more likely to be subjected to gun violence than women, however; 4% of men reported they had been threatened or attacked with a gun in the year before the survey was taken, compared with just 1% of women, according to the report.

Yet women (13%) were more likely to experience sexual harassment and sexual violence than men (6%). Almost one in four women (23%) surveyed also said they had been subjected to forced sex during their lifetimes, compared with 7% of men.

Severe intimate partner violence, sometimes called domestic violence, was also much more prevalent for women.

Almost 25% of women reported they had been subjected to potentially lethal forms of intimate partner violence — such as choking, suffocation, burns, beatings and use of a weapon — during their lifetimes. Only 6% of men reported being the victims of life-threatening violence from a spouse or dating partner.

Mariah Wineski, executive director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said the study’s findings align with what domestic violence shelters and other victim advocacy groups see on a daily basis.

“Many times, the most dangerous place for a woman is in her home or in her relationship,” Wineski said.

Intimate partner violence is more widespread among younger people. Twelve percent of respondents who are 18-24 years old and 15% of those ages 25-34 experienced violence and controlling behavior from a partner in the year before the survey was taken. Only 1-2% over people 55 and older reported the same problem.

Raj and Wineski said prevention programs aimed at reducing intimate partner violence need to start with adolescents in order to have the greatest impact.

“It is much more effective to change the attitudes and beliefs of a child or adolescent,” Wineski said. “They are at a better place in their lives for learning all sorts of new things, including how to interact with other people.”

Programs that promote economic stability and lift people out of poverty also help curb violence, according to Raj’s report.

Survey participants who reported not having enough money for food or other basic necessities were five times more likely to have experienced physical violence in the past year and six times more likely to experience intimate partner violence. People who are homeless were nine times more likely to experience intimate partner violence, according to the report.

“Policies that expand women’s economic and political participation, promote safety in workplaces and public spaces, and protect LGBTQ+ people advance not only equity but also safety for all,” the report concluded.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.

Source link

Louisiana

USDA picks Louisiana lawmaker to lead state’s rural development efforts. See who it is.

Published

15 hours ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

USDA picks Louisiana lawmaker to lead state’s rural development efforts. See who it is.

“All of the communities that surround it are going to need to be built up,” Romero said. “They’re going to need, you know, extra hospital space and rural clinics and restaurants.”

USDA’s rural development section supports economic development, job creation and services like housing, health care, first-responder services and utility infrastructure, according to its website.

Romero resigned from his seat in the Louisiana Legislature on Dec. 14 and began his new job with the federal government the next day, he said.

He’s replacing acting Director MaryAnn Pistilli and will be based in Alexandria, though he’ll regularly travel the state and meet with local leaders and officials, he said.

The former state lawmaker said Gov. Jeff Landry helped put his name forward for the appointment.

Source link

Louisiana

As New Orleans cuts costs, Louisiana auditor reviews take-home vehicles: ‘Is it necessary?’

Published

1 day ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

As New Orleans cuts costs, Louisiana auditor reviews take-home vehicles: ‘Is it necessary?’

As New Orleans looks to shave costs, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor is probing whether to curb the city’s roughly 2,800-vehicle fleet, including take-home vehicles.

Auditor Mike Waguespack – who is already monitoring the city’s finances, including overtime costs – said Tuesday that he’ll examine whether employees who have take-home cars actually need them and whether the city is selling vehicles it no longer uses.

The city’s fleet was 40% larger at the end of July than it was in 2023, according to data provided to the Times-Picayune last month. At least 935 municipal employees, or roughly 20% of the city’s workforce, drove cars home as of December, costing the city at least $41 million. Most are police officers.

“Is it necessary? Is it a fringe benefit or is it really justified?” Waguespack said on Tuesday.

Waguespack’s moves come after Mayor-elect Helena Moreno in December questioned Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s use of take-home cars and the size of the city’s overall fleet, and as Moreno’s administration is implementing a host of furloughs and layoffs to avoid a $222 million deficit that would have otherwise plagued the new year.

A spokesperson for Moreno said Monday that “it is clear there are efficiencies to be gained and some unnecessary allocation of resources” in the city’s vehicle fleet.

“Reducing unnecessary expenditures is at the top of the Moreno administration’s priorities,” Todd Ragusa said.

A Cantrell spokesperson did not return a request for an interview.

The auditor’s report will be released as one part of a comprehensive review of the city’s fiscal practices requested by State Bond Commission after it agreed to allow the city to sell $125 million in short-term revenue bonds in November. Waguespack will review New Orleans’ finances for fiscal years 2022 through 2025 and make recommendations.

His office will begin issuing reports on various budgetary issues in the next few months, and will issue the full slew of reports by mid-year, he said.

A deep review

New Orleans has had to contend with state intervention ever since the city discovered a $160 million deficit last year, caused by a failure to account for police overtime, ignored warnings about overspending, and too-rosy revenue projections.

Waguespack weekly approves the city’s drawdowns from the $125 million pool the State Bond Commission authorized last year, so that the city could make payroll for 5,000 employees.

He is also looking into the city’s policies and practices governing overtime spending, another area Moreno has said her administration will take measures to control after she takes office on Jan. 12.

Now, his audit of city vehicles — his first deep-dive into that issue — will examine the condition of municipal vehicles, their maintenance and insurance records. It will also examine the city’s vehicle policies, including who gets to take home a car, Waguespack said.

Waguespack on Tuesday questioned the size of the city’s overall fleet, which includes “pool” vehicles that are not assigned to a particular driver. The city’s total fleet consisted of 2,800 vehicles as of July 30, according to city records provided to the Times-Picayune.

“At first glance it appears that there is an excessive amount of pool cars— some of which are dated in age,” said Waguespack. “It could be an issue of not selling the surplus property.”

Of the fleet, 350 vehicles are pre-2010 models, according to the records. Waguespack said he worries that unnecessary vehicle expenditures — including costs to maintain and insure vehicles past their prime — could be straining the city’s finances.

Increase in fleet

The city did not provide take-home vehicle data for 2020-2024 or total fleet data for 2020-2022 in response to a public records request.

But data it did provide show the overall fleet has increased dramatically in recent years. By the end of 2023, there were 1,970 overall cars, compared to roughly 2,800 in July.

Also in 2023, the New Orleans Police Department rolled out more than 700 new police vehicles as part of a push by then-Interim New Orleans Police Superintendent Michelle Woodfork to give every officer a take-home car to boost recruitment numbers. Of the 935 employees who had take-home cars in December, 832 were NOPD employees.

The city dedicated $26 million of its $388 million in federal pandemic aid to public safety vehicles, according to the city’s American Rescue Plan spending dashboard.

The $41 million the city paid for the take home vehicles in use as of December, per the records, includes only the purchase price of the cars, and not the insurance, maintenance or gas it must also pay.

The size and oversight of the city’s fleet has long been a point of contention.

In 2008, then- Inspector General Robert Cerasoli found that the city was paying $1 million a year for 273 vehicles for public workers, not including purchase costs, and that there had been frequent abuse.

In response, Mayor Mitch Landrieu slashed the number of administrative take-home vehicles to 59, and separately cut the number of cars assigned to public safety employees from 758 in June 2010 to 414.

In 2016, a report by then-Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux found that between 2009 and 2024, the city had no formal fleet management system in place to track how many vehicles the city owned, or how often they were used or repaired.

Mayor’s personal fleet

Moreno highlighted concerns about the city’s take-home car policies in an interview with the Times-Picayune last year.

“We have way too many people with take-home cars that are non-public safety employees,” Moreno said.

Of the 935 employees who have take-home cars in December, 95% had public safety responsibilities.

She also took shots at the mayor’s personal fleet of take-home cars, and said she’d get rid of them. “I don’t know why she needs four.”

Cantrell confirmed at the time that she has three city vehicles – “two large vehicles and one sedan” — which she said were necessary for “safety and protection.” She also fired back that Moreno “doesn’t know what she doesn’t know.”

A list of take-home vehicles provided to the Times-Picayune only lists one vehicle assigned to Cantrell, a 2021 Chevrolet Suburban. It’s unclear why the other two vehicles are not listed.

Source link