Louisiana officials step up maintenance on roads, bridges

Published: February 9, 2026

By: Veronica Camenzuli and Sheridan White, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – State officials say they will prioritize maintenance projects, especially on rural roads and bridges, as they seek to reduce an estimated $19 billion backlog in highway projects.

They also are counting on the Office of Louisiana Highway Construction, an entity created by the Legislature last year, to speed up the contracting process.

Rep. Ryan Bourriaque, R-Abbeville, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said the new office represents “a litmus test to make sure that we’re not going to repeat issues that we’ve had in the past where funds were appropriated but projects were not implemented.”

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