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Louisiana’s trucking industry is pushing for a state moratorium on new highway billboards, in part because truckers are angry about trial attorney road signs that demean truckers over injury claims.

Despite high-profile projects in Baton Rouge and elsewhere, Louisiana’s $14 billion backlog of road and bridge needs will rise next year because the state lacks the needed resources, state Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson said Nov. 15.

Louisiana officials recently celebrated the completion of a project linking two interstate highways in the northern part of the state. The Interstate 49 North project in Shreveport creates an interchange with I-220.

Seven months after their push for a hike in the state gas tax died, road and bridge advocates are scrambling to see what, if any, other options are available for traffic relief.

Louisiana officials agree that the state’s roads need fixing. Beyond that, though, they can’t seem to agree on what to do about it. But they did make some progress earlier this month toward a solution when the state’s voters approved a constitutional amendment to safeguard any money raised by new gas taxes.

While Louisiana road and bridge needs poured in to a key legislative committee Oct. 12, prospects for any sweeping changes are bleak.

Louisiana regulators Sept. 20 allowed more companies to haul toxic waste in the state, but the Public Service Commission did not go as far as a newly passed state law demands, which will force the courts, ultimately, to decide how to handle hazardous leftovers from industry and the oilfield.

Infrastructure on the nation’s inland waterways needs an investment boost. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates $4.9 billion is needed in the next 20 years to improve locks and dams across the country.

The sponsor of a failed bill to raise Louisiana’s gas tax said July 31 the state should consider other options to improve roads and bridges, including the already-stressed general fund.