BATON ROUGE - Governor John Bel Edwards has signed legislation that will redirect tax money toward major road projects.

The new legislation will redirect up to $300 million in vehicle sales tax each year toward funding for a new bridge over the Mississippi River and widening I-10 to three lanes between LA 30 and LA 22.

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber released the following statement in response to the signing of the bill Friday.

"For the first time in decades, the state of Louisiana is making a serious, long-term investment in its infrastructure. BRAC congratulates the state legislature for working together on this bipartisan bill, and the governor for signing it into law. We know that our infrastructure funding has been severely lacking, leading to unprecedented maintenance backlogs and no resources for future-oriented projects. With this rededication of dollars, Louisiana can begin to build back its infrastructure to compete for the jobs and talent that depend on it.

This substantial investment in our infrastructure will go a long way toward alleviating our traffic woes, upgrading bridges in ill-repair, and is a significant next step in bringing a new Mississippi River Bridge and connectors to the Capital Region. Additionally, right-sizing our infrastructure funding will allow the state to access matching funds from the federal government, an important component in making major priorities like a new bridge possible.”