Louisiana drivers often call the Horace Wilkinson Bridge the “new” Mississippi River span, because it opened 28 years after the Huey P. Long Bridge. But many motorists say there is little new about the 50-year-old crossing. Now its congestion is prompting calls for yet another new bridge.

“It’s affecting every sector of our life,” said state Sen. Rick Ward (R-Port Allen). “We’re really at a crisis situation now.”

Ward is starting a political action committee focused on alleviating traffic by building an additional bridge. The New Bridge PAC will collect money for researching how best to build, fund and market it to voters. He expects to finalize the paperwork to form the committee by next week.

“We now have a platform to give us the opportunity to get it done for ourselves,” Ward told BRProud.com. “We’ve waited long enough at this point, and we’ve just got to do it.”

Roughly 180,000 vehicles cross the current “new bridge” on an average day, including tens of thousands during peak travel times. Ward says the gridlock would fall sharpest by constructing a new span south of Baton Rouge, perhaps in Iberville Parish.

“We can divert the traffic that doesn’t need to go into Baton Rouge and just let it bypass the city,” he said. “From that, we can free up the space needed for traffic.”

The PAC will accompany a panel that Ward first proposed this past spring. The Capital Area Road and Bridge District includes parish presidents from East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Ascension, Iberville and Livingston, as well as DOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson and gubernatorial appointee Mike Wampold. Board members plan to hold their first meeting before the new year.

While the PAC will survey public opinion, the seven-member authority will ultimately control how a new bridge is funded — pending voter approval. Ward hopes the board can forge a public-private agreement and subsidize construction through tolls.

“You’d be getting money from the people who directly use the bridge,” he said. “Plus, you’d hopefully get a lot of out-of-state money funding it.”

Ward says if the PAC and the commission stick to schedule, the decision on whether to break ground could be up to Baton Rouge-area voters as early as next year.