BATON ROUGE, LA – Earlier this morning the Department of Transportation and Development announced a new study, this time to investigate why none of the previous studies on the new Mississippi River bridge project have resulted in anything but dust-covered report binders, rising frustration among commuters and more studies.
“We believe in accountability,” said one LADOTD official. “So we’re finally taking a hard look at why all the other hard looks went nowhere.”
The $6.4 million “study-of-studies” will be led by a retired substitute teacher, two consultants who previously delayed the last bridge study and a summer intern from BRCC who has a suspended driver’s license. Their mission: figure out why years of traffic research still haven’t led to a single shovelful of dirt being moved.
The team will comb through old reports, stalled projections, and contradictory consultant memos dating back to the early 2000s.
Asked when the bridge project might begin, LADOTD replied, “First we need to wrap up this study. Then we’ll consider a short study to determine if we can start actually studying the bridge itself.”
Still, officials say it’s ahead of schedule compared to the College Drive widening project, so there’s that.
