Jim Bernhard says in live radio interview today, he'd back the loan for a new bridge

BATON ROUGE – Jim Bernhard, prominent businessman and one of the wealthiest people in Baton Rouge and founder of Shaw Group, which he sold for $3 billion in 2012, said off-the-cuff on a morning radio show Thursday, he’d back the loan needed to build a new bridge across the Mississippi River.

Bernhard appeared on AM Baton Rouge, the morning show on Talk Radio 107.3.

Bernhard said his new company, Bernhard Capital Group, would be interested in underwriting the bonds for a “new” bridge.

A third bridge over the river in the Greater Baton Rouge area would cost upwards of $1 billion.

Watch starting at the 6:30 mark to hear the interview.

In November, the long-discussed, often dreamed about additional bridge was pushed further into the spotlight when West Baton Rouge Senator Rick Ward’s New Bridge PAC bought commercials on television.

"We passed legislation to allow the capital region parishes to build a new bridge over the Mississippi River," Ward reports in the campaign that hopes to get a ballot item for a new bridge before voters in area parishes in the spring of 2019.

Saturday, voters in East Baton Rouge Parish are being asked to approve a sales tax for road construction. In early 2018, WBRZ was first to report the state secured funding and has started work to widen I-10 from the current I-10 bridge to the I-10/I-12 split.

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