​Road Transfer Program

Right-Sizing the State Highway System — A Voluntary Road Transfer Program

The State presently owns over 27 percent of the public road mileage in Louisiana; the national average is approximately 19 percent. Only nine states own a higher percentage of public road miles than Louisiana and only ten states have larger state highway systems.

An opportunity exists to significantly reduce the size of the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), rectify inequities in the distribution of state highway miles among parishes, and empower local governments through the right-sizing of the state highway system. Under this model, state government would be weakened and reduced whereas local government would be strengthened and have far greater autonomy.

The Road Transfer Program has been established as the means to right-size the State Highway System to achieve the national average of 19 percent state ownership of public road mileage. DOTD has identified approximately 5000 miles of state roads that do not fit the state's role in the highway network. The Program involves transferring these roads, with the money, to local governments.

Participation in the Program is voluntary. Roads will be repaired prior to transfer and the receiving local governments will be credited for 40 years of routine and capital maintenance which can be applied to any highway capital project(s). The Program may be appealing to those parishes and municipalities that have the capacity for additional day-to-day road maintenance but lack the resources for capital improvements. Local governments interested in participating need to contact their DOTD District Administrator.

Additional information on the Program is provided in the report below. Maps showing transfer roads in each parish are also provided below. Roads eligible for transfer are shown in green; those being retained by the state are shown in red.

 

  
  
  
  
DOTD District Map and DA Contact Information.pdfDOTD District Map and DA Contact Information11/27/2018 7:32 AM274 KB
Right-Sizing the State Highway System.pdfRight-Sizing the State Highway System7/11/2019 12:26 PM4501 KB