The long-awaited state highway project that will provide Washington Parish residents another route to New Orleans and the interstate is now underway, according to Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) Communications Director Rodney Mallett.

Reportedly, Louisiana Highway 3241 will be built one two-lane segment at a time, and the state DOTD has already begun the mitigation process from the Highway 434/Interstate 12 interchange.

“The constitution requires the state to build a four-lane highway from I-12 to Bush at part of the TIMED (Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development) program,” Mallett said. “This project has historically been caught up in environmental issues, which have since been resolved.

“We have set aside $25 million a year out of existing resources to complete the two projects (the highway and the Florida Avenue Bridge over the Industrial Canal in New Orleans) that must be completed, per the state constitution, under the TIMED program.”

He said the best way to address the Highway 3241 project would be to do it in two-lane road segments, then go back and complete the other two lanes.

“We want people driving on at least two lanes as quickly as practicable,” Mallett said. “We are engaged in the mitigation process, which is necessary to get a construction permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. However, if the department were to receive additional funding, this project could be accelerated.”