Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LaDOTD) is a state government organization in the United States, in charge of maintaining public transportation, roadways, bridges, canals, select levees, floodplain management, port facilities, commercial vehicles, and aviation which includes 69 airports, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The agency has approximately five thousand personnel on staff and an operating budget of $2.3 billion. DOTD operations are run through nine district offices across the state.

The current DOTD Secretary is Shawn D. Wilson, Ph.D., appointed in January 2016 by Governor John Bel Edwards. Other functions of the DOTD are Dams (Dam Safety Program), flood control (Floodplain Management, water resource management (wells), and maintaining state run ferries and moveable bridge status. The Louisiana Transportation Authority (LTA) is also under the DOTD, as well as the DOTD port construction and development.

The Louisiana Highway Commission was established in 1921 under the administration of Governor John M. Parker, who pushed for the establishment of more gravel roads throughout the state. Act 47 of 1940 under Governor Sam Houston Jones reorganized the entire state government; under its provisions, the Department of Highways was designated as the successor to the old Highway Commission, and a director, appointed by the governor, was established as the executive head of the Department. Among the highway directors was Ray W. Burgess (1921–2006) of Baton Rouge, an appointee of Governor Jimmie Davis. Highway workers were originally political appointees but later gained job security under state civil service. Act 47 also created the Department of Public Works and transferred to that department the state’s administrative functions involving flood control, water management, and aeronautics.

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