SpaceX Growth Could Fund I-49 Connector, Mayor Says

Lafayette Mayor-President Monique Boulet says growth tied to SpaceX's planned Vermilion Parish spaceport could push funding toward the long-stalled Interstate 49 Lafayette Connector, according to theadvocate.com.

The Connector is a proposed 5.5-mile, six-lane, partially elevated freeway through Lafayette. It's part of a larger plan to extend I-49 to the west bank of New Orleans. The project is expected to cost more than $1 billion, and funding hasn't been secured, per theadvocate.com.

"The growth that we're having and the exponential growth that's going to come from SpaceX is going to drive funding," Boulet said, according to theadvocate.com. "I don't expect SpaceX to pay for it. But as things intensify in Lafayette Parish, the Connector is teed up well."

SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, announced plans last week to build a $100 billion rocket-launching spaceport near Pecan Island on the Vermilion Parish coast, theadvocate.com reported.

Boulet said Lafayette Parish could become a secondary market for SpaceX operations. She pointed to a solar panel company that located to Iberia Parish as a comparison. Many of its subcontractors relocated to Lafayette Parish. Many of the company's employees live in Broussard and Lafayette, according to theadvocate.com. Boulet said the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development should factor those population shifts into Connector funding decisions.

A Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the I-49 Lafayette Connector project opened for public review Wednesday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Downtown Convention Center, 124 S. Buchanan St. in Lafayette, per theadvocate.com. Oral public comment began at 6 p.m. and ran until everyone who wanted to speak had a chance. Speakers were limited to three minutes each, theadvocate.com reported.