Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development

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The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LaDOTD) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways, bridges, canals and select levees and port facilities in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The agency has approximately 5,000 people on staff and an operating budget of $2.3 billion. DOTD operations are run through nine district offices across the state. The current DOTD Secretary is William D. Ankner, appointed in 2008.

After taking charge of the department in 2004, Secretary Johnny B. Bradberry oversaw the initiation the Change Management Group, designed to implement 125 recommendations to improve the operations of the department. Additionally, DOTD has been active in addressing the increased awareness for effective evacuation plans in the event of hurricanes threatening southeast Louisiana, and the Greater New Orleans area in particular. Following lessons learned during Hurricane Georges in 1998 DOTD has constructed contraflow crossover lanes and made agreements with Mississippi officials to implement the contraflow plan in the event of future hurricane threats. These plans were tested and modified following Hurricane Ivan in 2004 as residents of the New Orleans area spent upwards of 18 hours in traffic. These changes included strategic distribution of traffic control devices, improved coordination of police personnel and wide distribution of information and maps to the public depicting the state's phased evacuation plan and the various contraflow routes. These changes were tested and proved successful in August 2005 when New Orleans and the surrounding parishes were placed under a mandatory evacuation in advance of Hurricane Katrina.

1 Divisions
2 Facilities
3 Current projects
4 External links

[edit] Divisions

Crescent City Connection Division

[edit] Facilities

Louisiana Transportation Research Center - a joint operation with Louisiana State University to provide research and education for transportation issues.
Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) - the largest deepwater port in the United States, allowing oil supertankers to offload their cargo. Located 18 miles (29 km) offshore of Port Fourchon, Louisiana, 10% of imported crude oil is offloaded at LOOP.

[edit] Current projects

I-10 Twin Span Bridge - $800 million project to replace bridges damaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
Interstate 10/Siegen Lane and Bluebonnet Blvd - Adding travel lanes to I-10 and frontage lanes between the Siegen Lane and Bluebonnet Blvd interchanges.
Louisiana Highway 1 - Several projects including the construction of a 16 mile elevated section to improve truck traffic flow and evacuation of Grand Isle and lower Lafourche Parish.
TIMED (Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development) Program - an ongoing $4 billion program which includes funding to widen over 500 miles of Louisiana state highways from two lanes to four and construct or modify several bridges including the John James Audubon Bridge, Huey P. Long Bridge and Florida Avenue Bridge. Some projects funded by TIMED are already complete, including projects make improvements at the Port of New Orleans and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.