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Plaquemines Port seeks role in selecting consultant as Peters Road Bridge work aims for June start
Summary
State transportation officials said a notice to proceed for redesign work on the Peters Road Bridge is expected in early June; Plaquemines Port asked to participate in the consultant RFP evaluation while federal RAISE grant funding faces review and state funds are available for right-of-way acquisition.
State transportation officials and Plaquemines Port officials agreed Tuesday to include the port and Plaquemines Parish in parts of the consultant selection process for the Peters Road Bridge redesign while the federal RAISE grant faces additional review.
The discussion focused on maintaining project momentum: the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) said a notice to proceed (NTP) for the redesign work is expected in early June, and that about $17,000,000 in state funds could be repurposed for right-of-way acquisition if federal RAISE grant funds are delayed or reduced. "I do feel comfortable saying that even if there is a pause ... there is no formal pause. It's just an additional level of review," the Secretary (Department of Transportation and Development) said, adding that the RAISE grant had been "a little over $7,000,000."
The port asked for a cooperative endeavor agreement (CEA) paragraph that would give Plaquemines Port and Plaquemines Parish a "seat at the table" during the RFP evaluation and selection process for the engineering consultant. Charles Tillotson, executive director of Plaquemines Port, said the port has prepared a short CEA paragraph and planned to send it to Representative Burrow and DOTD for review. "We would like to have a seat at the table so that we're participating in the process," Tillotson said.
DOTD officials agreed that local participation can be accommodated so long as evaluators meet qualification requirements. "State law does allow local preference to be a consideration in selection of the consultant," the Secretary said, but added that if local representatives are included on an evaluation team, "they have the proper qualifications to be able to evaluate the proposals that are submitted." The Secretary emphasized that DOTD must follow federal procurement rules (the Brooks Act) and would retain final authority over the procurement.
Officials discussed project funding and schedule. The Secretary said the project package includes about $17,000,000 in state funds and that the RAISE grant award was about $7.4 million; the overall project was discussed in the meeting as roughly $21,000,000. If federal grant funds are delayed or rescinded, DOTD officials said they could repurpose state funds previously intended for right-of-way acquisition to keep the schedule moving.
Committee members asked about the length of the redesign and supplemental environmental approvals; DOTD said the timeline for redesign will be negotiated with the selected consultant and will include the time necessary for any supplemental environmental review. The secretary and others said they expected the consultant selection to be complete and NTP to be issued in early June, but they did not specify how long redesign and approval would take.
Speakers also noted regional implications: one committee member said completion of the bridge is time-sensitive because another project in the pipeline is about 24 months from final Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval and would benefit from the bridge being completed first.
No formal vote or procurement decision was recorded during the discussion. The immediate next steps recorded in the meeting are: Plaquemines Port will send its CEA paragraph for review, DOTD will review and may adjust CEA language, and DOTD intends to issue a notice to proceed in early June if procurement milestones are met.
