Walsworth's 'authority' bill clears House, headed to Senate by Scott Rogers - posted Thursday, May 31st, 2007 @ 6:53 am  E-mail Story |  Print Story  With unanimous approval in the House late Tuesday, Rep. Mike Walsworth's legislation to create a separate board to focus on funding for the proposed fourth Ouachita River bridge is headed to the Senate. The legislation calls for the creation of the Ouachita Expressway Authority which would be composed of 11 members appointed by local agencies as well as some of the state and congressional delegation. The sole focus of the group would be to work to make the proposed fourth river bridge a reality. "This has been talked about for more than 40 years, and it's something we need to focus on because that's what the people want," Walsworth said. "I think this is finally something positive that will provide us with two things: a focus on the project and a group that will be accountable for the funding." Walsworth said Wednesday that his bill should be discussed in Senate committee meetings over the next several weeks. If approved by the Senate, Walsworth anticipates members of the Ouachita Expressway Authority could be appointed within the next several months. Members of the Ouachita Expressway Authority would be appointed by the Ouachita Parish Police Jury, Monroe Chamber of Commerce, West Monroe/West Ouachita Chamber of Commerce, president of the University of Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Ouachita Council of Governments, the House District 16 representative, the state senator from District 33 and the 5th District congressman. The Police Jury and DOTD each would be allowed to appoint two members to the authority. The others can appoint one member each. The board of commissioners would have the power to obtain state and federal funding, as well as sell revenue bonds to pay for the cost of the bridge's engineering and construction work. The project could cost upwards to $200 million and take several years to complete.