The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development recently awarded Youngsville with $3 million.
The money, which was allocated years ago for the city after it took control of the Youngsville Highway, will be put toward local matches for future road projects in the city, said Mayor Ken Ritter.Â
"For the last couple of years, I've tried to cash in or utilize the credits across our city and I was unsuccessful at finding any place DOTD would allow me to utilize those credits." Ritter said, "I started referring to it as Monopoly money."
The city, on several occasions over the years, attempted to use the funds on road projects, but DOTD would always deem the projects ineligible for one reason or another.
In one instance, the city wanted to improve a problematic intersection, but DOTD said too few crashes occurred there. Ritter noted as the city continues to grow, the intersection is expected to become a greater issue.Â
But when Gov. Jeff Landry installed Joe Donahue as secretary of DOTD, Ritter reached out to find a way that those funds could be released. On April 8, the funds were given to the city.
"I just expressed my frustration. We just ran into roadblock after roadblock consistently when trying to utilize those credits," Ritter said.Â
Ritter said the money will used on local matches for grant-funded road projects in the city.
