La. DOT Blames NAFTA For Bad Roads

December 8, 1999 9:57 AM, EST

Louisiana transportation officials blame heavy cross-border truck traffic for the state’s No. 2 ranking for having the country’s worst roads in an owner-operator magazine.

Kam Movassaghi, head of the state Department of Transportation, said he wants to double truck registration fees in order to make truckers correct the problems they have caused.

Carriers have balked at such a steep increase and say the roads will not get better until the fees collected from motorists are actually used for highway improvements.

“The trucking industry should pay its fair share of fixing the roads damaged by its use,” Movassaghi said in response to a survey published in Overdrive magazine.

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