Highway To Link St. Tammany Parish to Bogalusa Will Be Funded
Talk of a highway being built to connect St. Tammany Parish to Bogalusa has been discussed for years. The four-lane road has been on Louisiana’s state project list for over thirty years. Finally, funding has come through for the project.
“My age group thought the older people were crazy,” Bogalusa Mayor Wendy Perrette, who is 45, said. “They were holding on to a hope we didn’t ever see coming.”
“A lot of people weren’t even born when we started talking about this,” Washington Parish Sen. Beth Mizell said.
The highway named La. 3241 will be funded by money from Louisiana’s 4-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax. The highway which will run through St. Tammany, from Bush to I-12, will be a “vital artery for Bogalusa. The $240 million project will run from the junction of La. 40 and La. 41 in Bush south through the central part of St. Tammany Parish to connect
with I-12 and will be completed by the end of 2024.
Many sections throughout the area will benefit such as the paper mill in Bogalusa and the economic development of St. Tammany Parish. The new highway will not only allow easier access to these areas but will also create jobs. It will improve St. Tammany businesses’ logistics, distribution and transportation.
This project comes at a great time for the city of Bogalusa which is starting to see growth in retirees and young families who are looking for lower housing costs.
“A young family can live here for a little bit of nothing,” Perrette said of the area. “Property taxes are low, it’s affordable. It’s beneficial even if you had to commute.”
