Another infrastructure grant bound for St. Mary

Last week’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding for St. Mary turned out to be a two-fer.
Not long after U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy’s office announced $16.7 million in grants headed for Morgan City, the office announced another $2.5 million for Baldwin.
The money will go to “construct a public access road along the south side of the track within the BNSF right-of-way to facilitate vehicle access. It will enhance safety by addressing historical issues with incidents at these locations and will resolve blockages for vehicles and emergency responders.”
Baldwin and BNSF will contribute a 20% match for the federal funds.
“It’s important to invest in Louisiana’s railroads,” Cassidy said in a press release. “This funding will make our railroad crossings safer and build our economy for 2050.”
The grant followed the news in Morgan City, where the money will be used for street lighting, green spaces and other public projects. The big piece is a portion of the citywide walking and bicycle trail that will run from City Hall to South Louisiana Community College’s Young Memorial campus to Morgan City Municipal Auditorium.
The grants work their way into many public service areas, including health (trails for exercise), safety (street-lighting to prevent crime) and education (providing a safe path to the community college.)
“The original vision of working on the Infrastructure and Jobs Act was to create opportunity for state and local governments, but also to create opportunities for local communities to say what their needs are,” said Cassidy, who helped negotiate the IIJA’s passage early in the Biden administration.
The goal is to put Louisiana’s economy where it should be by 2050, Cassidy said.
The IIJA and other grant and relief programs have contributed to a virtual flood of federal money coming into the parish over the last five years.
Funding for the $80 million Bayou Chene Flood Control Structure came from the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority using funds from the BP oil spill settlement. The movable barge at the center of the work was built at Bollinger’s Amelia facility.
During the COVID pandemic, and in addition to stimulus payments directly to local households, about 2,000 jobless St. Mary residents received $600 enhancements to their state unemployment benefits.
The School Board received about $30 million in COVID-related aid, and another nearly $150 million came into the parish by way of forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans.
That’s in addition to millions in recent grants for water and gas system upgrades for Morgan City, Berwick and Patterson.