Members of the Capital Area Road and Bridge District heard on Thursday that the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is delaying formal initiation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental assessment for the Mississippi River bridge project until conceptual design issues and mitigation for tie‑ins at LA 1 and LA 30 are better defined.

"We have not initiated NEPA just yet because we're working through those tasks," DOTD project manager Christina Brygnaik said, explaining that DOTD and its consultants want draft line‑and‑grade drawings and control‑of‑access mitigation settled before asking the Federal Highway Administration to accept an environmental assessment. She said DOTD faces a strict 12‑month window once NEPA is formally started and wants to avoid starting the clock before key design questions are resolved.

Why it matters: Initiating NEPA without settled tie‑ins or mitigation could force repeated iterations during the 12‑month EA process and risk missing that deadline, DOTD officials said. The schedule change also shifts when the public will see the draft environmental document: DOTD and consultants told the commission they now want a draft EA ready for the formal public hearings, not only for earlier public information meetings.

Key details from the meeting

- Public meetings (informational, open‑house style presenting the three alternatives and collected material) are planned for the third or fourth quarter of this year, DOTD and consultant Atlas Technical said. The draft EA is planned to be available for the public hearings, which DOTD now estimates in the second quarter of next year, with completion of the NEPA process projected in the fall of 2026.

- DOTD and Atlas said they had received additional line‑and‑grade submittals the week before the meeting and that those submittals raised questions about how access to some neighborhoods would be affected at LA 30. Brygnaik said the agencies must show how they will mitigate impacts to neighborhood access before presenting alternatives at public meetings.

- Atlas project manager Anna Choudhury noted that DOTD must request FHWA authorization to start NEPA; FHWA can take up to 45 days to respond and may ask for additional information before granting an official start date.

Public concerns and technical issues

Residents and conservation groups urged caution and asked DOTD and Atlas to consider additional studies before finalizing alternatives. Laura Como, a Plaquemines Point landowner, said materials she and other residents submitted during the planning phase documenting old‑growth cypress trees and natural‑area designations were not reflected in a December 2023 planning report and argued that alternative E‑11‑4 would “cut down and destroy the oldest part of an old growth forest.”

Harvey Stern of Louisiana Purchase Cypress Legacy said he and other public speakers want a clear, transparent connection between the initial planning scores and the newer technical reports, particularly the December 2024 wetlands assessment, so that members of the public can evaluate the relative environmental quality and mitigation feasibility of each alternative before hearings.

DOTD responded that the 2022 planning/screening report was an early snapshot used to narrow options and that more detailed technical data developed since then would be incorporated into NEPA. DOTD staff said all three of the top alternatives will require Clean Water Act Section 404 permits for impacts to jurisdictional wetlands and that the wetlands and other technical studies now being reviewed inform whether impacts can be mitigated and whether the project can proceed with a FONSI (finding of no significant impact) or will need a full environmental impact statement.

Funding and schedule notes

DOTD told the commission the project currently has just under $400,000,000 in funding identified to date. Commissioners and residents warned that delays lengthen the schedule and can increase project cost; some officials urged DOTD and consultants to accelerate work where feasible.

What the commission directed

Commission members asked DOTD and Atlas for clearer public outreach—two meeting locations (one each side of the river) to improve access were discussed—and asked staff to gather preferred venues. DOTD and Atlas asked commissioners for suggestions on meeting locations and to ensure broad parish access.

Ending

DOTD and Atlas said they will continue design refinements and agency coordination, and will notify the public when the public‑information meetings are scheduled. Commissioners and multiple residents said they will keep pressing DOTD for clearer documentation tying screening results to the latest technical analyses before the public hearings are held.