BATON ROUGE, LA – A Baton Rouge man stunned judges at a Halloween costume contest Friday night after arriving dressed as something residents have spent decades hearing about but never seen: a completed new Mississippi River Bridge.
The costume featured six open traffic lanes, functioning entrance ramps, and no orange construction barrels. Witnesses described the outfit as the most unrealistic thing they had ever seen, including a contestant dressed as a CATS bus arriving on schedule.
“I’ve seen ghosts, zombies, and grown men dressed as LSU national championship contenders,” said one judge. “But a finished bridge? That’s just ridiculous.”
The man spent three weeks constructing the costume, approximately 40 years less than officials expect the actual project to take.
Several attendees refused to believe the costume was real, demanding environmental studies, traffic projections, and another public hearing before awarding first place.
Contest organizers confirmed the man received a $100 prize, although Louisiana officials have announced plans to spend $4 million over the next 12 years studying whether he should be allowed to collect it.
