Skip to main content

New Orleans Faces $1 Billion Shortfall for FEMA-Funded Roadwork

After years of delays, cost overruns, and deadline extensions on a FEMA-funded street repair program, New Orleans officials face a massive funding shortfall and accusations of mismanagement.

2 minute read

June 17, 2024, 10:00 AM PDT

By Mary Hammon @marykhammon


As part of a 2015 deal to settle outstanding Hurricane Katrina Claims, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Service granted the city of New Orleans $1.7 billion to complete nearly 300 street projects by August 2023. But as of May 2018, only $10 million of the funding was under construction and the city was under federal scrutiny. In 2022, that deadline was pushed to March 2025. Today, with less than a year to go, according to an article from Nola.com, not only are city officials planning to request another extension, but they are also facing a budget shortfall of as much as $1 billion.

“According to Joe Threat, the city's Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Infrastructure, estimates from the construction firms involved in the work have skyrocketed due to higher costs for labor and materials that have impacted all sorts of projects since the start of the pandemic,” reports Nola staff writer Sophie Kasakove. Costs also rose as workers began tearing up streets and identifying additional repair needs. But some local elected officials say the program has been handled badly from the start.

In an effort to get a handle on delays and cost overruns, which Kasakove writes have plagued the effort over the past six years, the city recently contracted consulting firm CDM Smith, which identified the $1 billion estimated shortfall as part of a draft “gap analysis.” She reports “68 out of 273 projects set to be completed through what's known as the Joint Infrastructure Recovery Request, or JIRR, are currently on hold awaiting additional funding,” and 100 projects are in the planning process but not yet started, according to the city’s roadwork website. The city has expressed its commitment to completing all the projects, but local leaders and residents are frustrated and quickly running out of patience.

Saturday, June 15, 2024 in NOLA.com

Post-Katrina Programs a Blueprint for Housing the Working Class

The housing initiatives developed after Hurricane Katrina teach valuable lessons for post-pandemic affordable housing production.

September 7, 2021 - NOLA.com

New Orleans Convent to Become Large Urban Wetland

Hurricane Katrina damaged a Catholic convent in New Orleans. Then the nuns spearheaded a project to transform the land into a wetland area that will protect the city from flooding in the future.

January 22, 2020 - Changing America

Report: $14 Billion New Orleans Flood System, Completed Less Than a Year Ago, Already Obsolete

The Army Corps of Engineers is already assessing the needs of repair work on a project it completed in May 2018 at the cost of $14 billion.

April 22, 2019 - E&E News

New Florida Law Curbs HOA Power

The legislation seeks to cut down on ‘absurd’ citations for low-level violations.

June 16, 2024 - The Guardian

New Tennessee Law Allows No-Cost Incentives for Affordable Housing

Local governments in the Volunteer State can now offer developers incentives like increased density, lower parking requirements, and priority permitting for affordable housing projects.

June 10, 2024 - Nooga Today

Planners’ Complicity in Excessive Traffic Deaths

Professor Wes Marshall’s provocatively-titled new book, "Killed by a Traffic Engineer," has stimulated fierce debates. Are his criticisms justified? Let’s examine the degree that traffic engineers contribute to avoidable traffic deaths.

June 13, 2024 - Todd Litman

New Updates on PD&R Edge

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Innovative Housing Showcase Educational Sessions

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.