I talk to a lot of people about politics in Louisiana. I have to. It’s unavoidable if you’re the guy who publishes The Hayride.

And of course, there are polls on Jeff Landry’s approval rating that show some unenviable numbers. Some show him under 40 percent.

There are some things which would explain those numbers. Cleo Fields being in Congress thanks to the redistricted Congressional map is the top cause for consternation among the people I’ve talked to who have turned on Landry, and that problem just gets worse all the time. I’ve likened Fields to the unflushed toilet of Louisiana politics, and I keep getting proven right in that characterization – just last week there was a report linking Fields to congressional insider trading – he apparently bought stock in Oracle just before the TikTok deal was announced.

So good for Cleo Fields, we guess. That probably doesn’t ingratiate him or his political benefactor to the public.

The good news is that next week there will be oral arguments in the Callais case at the Supreme Court, and the expectation is that case will blow away Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act which necessitated a racially gerrymandered district to put Fields in Congress, and once that situation is resolved there will be a new Louisiana congressional map which will produce five Republicans and one black Democrats instead of the current four and two.

The toilet will get flushed. That will help Jeff Landry.

But when I’m asked what else Landry can do to make a political comeback among his detractors, what I generally say is “find things to fix and fix them.” What that mean is, Louisiana’s government is so rife with incompetence, corruption and general dysfunction that it’s a target-rich environment for reform. There are egregious abuses and wastes all over the place, and what Landry can do a lot of, and be seen doing it, is target some of the bigger-ticket items and simply apply some common sense to clean them up.

And the Belle Chasse bridge is a really good example.

To put it plainly, this was a John Bel Edwards project, and it’s an abject fiasco.

For those of our readers who have no idea what’s going on, the bridge is part of Highway 23 (that’s Belle Chasse Highway) in Plaquemines Parish and it spans the Intracoastal Canal. It was built as a replacement for the original Belle Chasse Tunnel, which was built in 1955, and the adjacent Judge Perez Bridge, which went up in 1967; both were aging and inadequate for modern traffic demands.

The corridor handled over 33,000 vehicles daily, but the structures caused frequent delays due to ship traffic requiring bridge lifts and the tunnel’s limitations. And by the 2010s, they were deemed structurally deficient, prompting calls for replacement to improve safety, reduce congestion, and support economic growth in Plaquemines.

Enter John Bel Edwards and his genius Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson, who we’re still amazed was the Democrats’ gubernatorial candidate in 2023.

Wilson’s DOTD0 initiated a $169 million public-private partnership (P3) project in 2021. That was the state’s first of its kind for a bridge. The Plenary Infrastructure Belle Chasse Consortium (including Plenary Group and subcontractors like Kapsch TrafficCom for tolling) was selected to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain a new four-lane, fixed-span bridge. Plenary contributed about $70 million upfront in exchange for collecting tolls over 30 years, with projections estimating $630–726 million in total revenue for the company.

Construction involved demolishing the old bridge and sealing the tunnel, with the new bridge opening to traffic in March 2025 after multiple delays. The project aimed to eliminate traffic stops for marine vessels and incorporate electronic tolling for efficiency. However, issues like sinking pavement during construction led to over $3.5 million in fines for Plenary (at $10,000 per day initially, later reduced to $5,000 daily for unfinished elements).

And in May of this year, when they started collecting the tolls, it turned into a fiasco.

Rates were set at $2–$4 per trip depending on vehicle type (e.g., higher for trucks). Drivers could use GeauxPass transponders for discounts, but the system quickly became a source of outrage. Key problems included (I’m just pasting in a summary from Grok):

Billing Glitches and Overcharges: Many users reported errors, such as accounts not registering properly, leading to repeated violation notices. For instance, one resident accrued over $7,000 in tolls and fees due to a glitch, while others faced double charges or unexplained fines. A $25 violation fee per incident, plus a 3% credit card surcharge, compounded costs—sometimes turning a simple round trip into a $54 expense.

Excessive Fees Outpacing Tolls: From May to September 2025, the system collected $5.2 million in actual tolls but $6.8 million in administrative, postage, and incidental fees. This imbalance highlighted systemic flaws, including improper license renewal flags and poor customer service (e.g., no local offices, long resolution times).

Economic Impact on Locals: As the primary route in and out of Plaquemines Parish, the tolls deterred customers and commuters. Small businesses reported sales drops of 9–40%, with some estimating a 30% overall decline. Residents and workers faced added financial strain, describing the setup as poorly planned and burdensome.

Contract Violations: State audits and officials cited Plenary for failing to provide timely tolling info, disrupting utilities for up to three years, and allowing excessive pavement subsidence. These breached the P3 agreement, which was negotiated under former Gov. John Bel Edwards and later criticized as a “terrible deal” for taxpayers.

And it turns out there were lots of accusations of impropriety and coziness between Plenary and Edwards’ people. Talk to folks down that way and it’s a pretty commonly-held belief that the former governor absolutely jacked them up in order to profiteer with his friends on the bridge tolls.

We’re not going to pass judgment on any of that. We’re just noting it in order to characterize what a mess this has become.

So if you’re Landry, this gives you a very good opportunity to address the problem. And he’s doing that…

Gov. Jeff Landry criticized the agreement that imposed tolls on the new Belle Chasse Bridge, calling it a poor deal made by the previous administration.

“The Belle Chasse Bridge is a bad deal. It was a bad deal by the last governor,” Landry said.

Landry acknowledged frustration from Plaquemines Parish residents and drivers over the tolls. He said relief is coming, though he declined to provide details.

He said his administration plans to roll out a plan to improve the bridge’s value for both residents and the state.

Landry blamed the current situation on the infrastructure funding decisions of past administrations.

“We’ve got $50 billion worth of backlog in our infrastructure,” he said. “Remember these are bad choices and a lack of investing in our infrastructure over the last 30 years.”

Since tolling began, many residents have voiced frustration about the charges.

Plaquemines Parish residents with a GeauxPass pay 25 cents each way. Those without a pass and drivers of larger vehicles pay a higher fee.

Some drivers reported being hit with unexpected administrative and late fees. Anthony Richard said GeauxPass failed to honor tolling exemptions for his wife’s vehicle.

“She has a DV plate, and we were told DV plates are free, but she’s getting charged to go back and forth with the tolls,” Richard said.

They’re charging these people penalties and extra fees to the point that it’s essentially becoming a luxury to go over that bridge now. And it’s more or less the only way in and out of Belle Chasse.

So Landry is trashing Edwards for making a bad deal on the bridge and he’s promising relief from the tolls on the bridge. His DOTD is saying they’re blocking any penalties or fines from being assessed at the moment while all of this is being reviewed, and Landry is demanding that Plenary renegotiate the toll arrangement.

And just now if you go on the website for the Belle Chasse bridge, you’ll see this…

That order came down on Thursday.

Which isn’t a permanent solution, but it’s definitely action that the folks affected by this fiasco will notice.

This is low-hanging fruit, to be sure, but give him credit for leaning in and working to fix it. If Landry can make this a case study in helping average Louisianans ripped off by insider fatcats under the previous regime, it’ll definitely help him.

And if the state can establish something like a reasonable standard for these P3 deals, such that they aren’t tantamount to conspiracies against the public like it increasingly seems they were when Edwards was governor, that’ll be of long-term benefit to our people.