FERRIDAY — A bill filed with the Louisiana House of Representatives could provide a way for the long-delayed four-laning of U.S. 84 outside Ferriday.

Rep. Karen St. Germaine, D-Plaquemine, has filed House Bill 778, which if passed would levy a 10-year, 1 percent sales tax to be used for the construction of specific highway and bridge projects.

The bill would dedicate the first $100 million gathered by the tax to the Louisiana State Transportation Infrastructure Bank Fund.

The remaining funds collected would be directed to the Major Economic Development Corridors Fund, which would be restricted to 15 projects. Included in the list of projects would be four-laning approximately 26 miles of U.S. 84 from Archie to Ferriday.

Ferriday Mayor Gene Allen said he was not aware of the bill, but he would like to see the highway project proceed.

“I don’t think I will see (the four-laning completed) in my lifetime, but I would love to see it,” he said. “It certainly would be beneficial to our city to have U.S. 84 four-laned from Archie to Ferriday.”

The effort to four-lane the El-Camino Corridor portion of the highway, which runs through parts of Georgia and Texas and crosses Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, has been ongoing for nearly 30 years. Officials have said completing the four-lane project can help create a new east-west economic development corridor between Interstates 10 and 20.

Concordia Economic Development Director Heather Malone said she was part of a group that presented the idea of four-laning the highway in Baton Rouge last year, but was likewise unaware of the current proposal.

“Selfishly, I think it would be great for us to get that big portion complete,” she said. “It is good news to hear there is potential for the four-laning of that roadway, because it needs to be completed and we are one of the middle states that needs to connect the  other states, so it is not just us who would benefit, but I know nobody likes taxes.”

Mississippi has completed its portion of the project, but Louisiana has finished less than a fifth of the 168-miles of four-laning within its borders. In the Miss-Lou, the four-lane stops once U.S. 84 intersects with Louisiana 15 in Ferriday, resumes briefly in Jonesville before returning to single-lane.

According to the El Camino East/West Corridor Commission, which lobbies for the four-laning project, Texas has completed 73 percent of its portion of the project, while Alabama has completed 52 percent.

The El-Camino Corridor draws its name from a historic trail it seeks to duplicate. Natchez and Vidalia are its center point.

House Bill 778 is currently under review by the house ways and means committee.