LA HR306

Requests the Department of Transportation and Development to establish an Urban Infrastructure Planning Task Force to identify key infrastructure needs, assess financial feasibility, evaluate project efficiency, and determine quality of life impacts in urban areas.

Task force membership includes mayors or designees and city engineers from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Jefferson Parish, and Lafayette, plus representatives from two regional power grid operators and eight graduate students from four Louisiana universities.

Louisiana faces approximately $18.9 million in highway and bridge backlog, with infrastructure needs increasing roughly $6 billion from 2013 to 2022; the state received over $10.2 billion in federal infrastructure funding for 700+ projects.

Task force must submit infrastructure reports to the House Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee: a 2030 report by December 13, 2025; a 2035 report by December 13, 2029 (with mid-range report by February 13, 2027); and a 2040 report by December 13, 2034 (with mid-range report by August 13, 2032).

Louisiana's infrastructure is rated "D+" by the American Society of Civil Engineers, with approximately 13.5% of bridges structurally deficient and about 200 miles of 1960s-era bridge rail systems that do not meet current safety standards.