DOTD presents four new port projects totaling about $36 million in state investment

Julia Fisher Cormier, commissioner of the Office of Multimodal Commerce at the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, told the Joint Transportation Committee on March 17 that four new port-priority applications are before the committee for an informational hearing and that members will vote next Monday.

“Port Vinton, Port Of New Orleans, Port Of Manchaca, and Port Of Greater Baton Rouge” are the four applications she named during the presentation, and she summarized the combined figures: the quarter’s applications equal about $36 million in state investment, nearly $300 million in estimated benefits to the state and create or retain about 131 jobs.

The projects described by Cormier include: a new barge loading and unloading berth at Port Vinton, which DOTD said mainly supports an adjacent carbon-capture facility and is credited in the packet with 54 jobs and about $82 million in benefits to the state; an Alamo terminal revitalization at the Port of New Orleans intended to handle organic agricultural products (28 jobs, $100 million in benefits); a three-phase infrastructure and site rehabilitation at the Port of Manchaca (retains 10 jobs and creates 27 new jobs); and replacement of fendering on Dock 1 at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge (retains 12 jobs, $52 million in benefits).

Cormier emphasized the program is reimbursable, meaning ports may use their own funds to proceed and later request reimbursement. She also said the package includes letters from the Louisiana Economic Development (LED) office accompanying the four applications and a packet of emails the department received on one application.

Stephen Barnes, executive director of the Kathleen Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, explained the department’s benefit-cost metrics to the committee, describing two metrics used: an internal rate of return and a benefit-cost ratio. Barnes said the benefit-cost ratio is “the broader, more holistic picture of what a project means to the state of Louisiana.” He described the ratio as total state benefits divided by the state share for the project.

Committee members asked for clarifications about job counts and how jobs attributed to a project are counted — whether positions are newly created or represent retention or tenant hires. Cormier responded that the project tallies are a mix of retained jobs and newly created positions and that the packet aggregates those numbers for the quarter. She pointed members to the spreadsheet in the meeting packet that bolds the four new requests.

The presentation listed a program backlog of about $275 million and a 2024 year-end state share of $65 million. Committee staff reiterated that today’s session was informational only; any formal vote on the four port projects will occur at the committee’s next meeting.

Minor public-comment cards and port representatives were present in support and listed in the record but did not speak during the hearing.

The packet and presentation remain the primary record of the proposed project costs and benefits; the committee deferred formal action to the next meeting.