I-49 South seemed to be the main concern for residents and speakers alike at the town hall meeting held Monday morning.

The plan is to convert 160 miles of the thruway and highway 90 from Lafayette to New Orleans into I-49.

The DOTD says 100 miles of the roadway have already been brought up to interstate standards.

The 3.2 billion dollar project has been a topic of discussion since 1987, and a problem Congressman Charles Boustany says he’s personally been working to fix for over ten years.

“It’s been a top priority for us in federal delegation obviously for Senator Vitter and I for quite some time. It’s been a local, state issue. its important for so many reasons. for hurricane evacuation. Its the energy corridor to help feed commerce and for safety. Too many fatal accidents. its been a big problem.” said Boustany

US Senator David Vitter says Louisiana ranked poorly nationally for urban interstate congestion.

Boustany says funding and systems delays are the two biggest problems this project faces.

With business steadily growing throughout Acadiana, he says the roadway can no longer accommodate the traffic.

“Wasted time and wasted fuel and it’s a real burden on our businesses. you heard from two business owners here today who laid that all out very clearly how it impacts their business. we have to get this done our infrastructure development has lagged behind in growth and its going to inhibit this growth if we don’t get this fixed.” said Boustany

Boustany says the next step in completing the I-49 south project is to get funding for a long term highway bill.

“Within that highway bill we want not only the funding secured to cover the costs of these projects over a six year period we also need the streamlining process for permits .” said Boustany