A new $170 million Belle Chasse Bridge, a public-private partnership, is expected to open next spring, and the developer will collect more than $748.2 million in tolls over the following three decades.
April 16, 2021 By Frank McCormack
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) held a virtual groundbreaking ceremony April 12 for the project to replace the Judge Perez Bridge, a vertical lift bridge over the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) in Belle Chasse, La., and the accompanying tunnel that passes under the canal. The bridge forms part of Louisiana Highway 23, the main roadway that connects all the communities on the west bank of Plaquemines Parish stretching about 70 miles between Belle Chasse and Venice to the rest of the greater New Orleans area.
The Judge Perez Bridge opened in September 1968, while the tunnel opened to traffic in February 1956. The tunnel, innovative when it first opened, is thought to be the first tunnel in the world that did not require personnel to operate it. Today, more than 33,000 vehicles cross the structures each day, with mechanical issues at the bridge and