After more than two decades of delays, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are reviewing environmental permits that could pave way for construction of a 20-mile north/south highway between Washington and St. Tammany parishes.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development submitted the assessment for review April 30 and is awaiting Corps approval by May 30, according to Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, and a letter sent from Col. Alvin B. Lee of the Corps to the DOTD.

“The time has come for us to agree on a route and build this highway,” said Nevers, a legislator who has spent more than 10 years of his career years fighting to build the highway. “The longer we delay this project the more people are going to be affected.” At the crux of the Corps’ assessment is the proposed route for construction of Louisiana 3241, the four lane divided highway first dreamed up by then Sen. B.B. “Sixty” Rayburn.

Proponents such as Nevers suggest the most favored route, gleaned from public input meetings, stretches from Sun to Interstate 12 at Louisiana Highway 1088. The assessment will likely determine if that route is the most desired or one of the more than 17 other routes is better suited, Nevers said.

If approved, the permit would finally put into motion design work expected to begin in 2010, a year later than the entire four-lane divided highway was first expected to be complete, Nevers said.

“Once we get clearance for the route, we certainly hope we’re ready to go,” Nevers said. The delays “have been unbelievable to be honest.”

The highway, funded by a voter-approved 4-cent gasoline tax, is part of the TIMED program, or Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development, a series of congressionally mandated projects to spur economic growth.

To speed up the process, state Rep. Tim Burns, R-Mandeville, authored House Bill 1185, prohibiting state government from authorizing other TIMED projects until at least $127 million is dedicated the La. 3241. The House Ways and Means Committee is currently debating the legislation.

Despite its promise to connect St. Tammany Parish’s robust economy, health care and quality of life to Washington Parish, the route has come under fire by environmental groups, a move that has stalled the project for more than 20 years.

Agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries and the state chapter of the Sierra Club have hurled objections at the path, claiming for a variety of reasons a negative ecological and quality of life impact.

Leslie March, a Mandeville resident and the executive committee chairwoman of the state Sierra Club, said she would rather preserve the Talisheek Wetlands between Abita Springs and Pearl River and widen an alternate route. Developments along the highway would also produce suburban sprawl killing the quality of life many have grown to love, she said.

St. Tammany already is “becoming Metairie very quickly,” she said referring to the area’s traffic congestion.