re: Bernhard says he will finance loan for new Mississippi River Bridge in Baton Rouge

the only way to do it would be to build it right next to the existing span and put the toll on one side. It would be painful to do that but it’s the only way

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The "new" bridge gets around 120k daily traffic but most of that is traffic coming from i-12 or to the core of BR. The old bridge gets around 20k daily traffic, and the sunshine bridge even less than that.

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Does it matter where most of the 120k a day is coming from? If that many are crossing the "new" BR bridge then slap a toll of $1.50-$2.00 each way on that baby.

And when the Sunshine Bridge closed, I read that up to 25k people cross it each day. Having sat in detour traffic from that closure 3-4 times, I can guarantee you 100%, without a single doubt, that you could place a toll of the same amount each way on the Sunshine Bridge and people who cross it every single day wouldn't bat an eye to that. I can't imagine what those poor people who have to cross that bridge each day have been going through on a daily basis since the closure. I bet they wish there was another bridge nearby and they'd gladly pay for a third bridge.

Also, $1.50x120k a day = $180,000 a day
180,000 x 365 = $65,700,000 a year
$65,700,000 x 10 years = $657,000,000 just from the "new" BR bridge

25k Sunshine Bridge drivers paying $1.50 each would result in an additional $136,875,000 over 10 years.

Total just from those two bridges equals $793,875,000 over 10 years. Let's get the feds to pitch in the rest and suddenly a brand new bridge somewhere between Donaldsonville and Baton Rouge becomes a very, very real possibility.

I don't see why this is so hard.