The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday said a building permit, likely the final say on Louisiana Highway 3241, the long proposed north/south highway from Bogalusa to Mandeville, will either be issued or denied by Jan 2011.

“If we issued a permit (the state Department of Transportation and Development) has the authority to build they highway, no questions asked,” said project manager James Barlow.

“But its highly unlikely we won’t issue anything because we will work with (the DOTD) to get a project. It might not be what they want but we will give them a plan,” Barlow said. “We are committed to making a permit decision by Jan. 2011.” The announcement came Thursday night from the Abita Springs Town Hall, where the one and only public meeting was held for the Corps to develop an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, that determines wetland mitigation, drainage, traffic and noise issues for highway’s final six proposed routes.

The EIS, is expected to be complete by Jan. 2010 and used as the basis for a final permit decision made by Jan. 2011, Barlow said.

And while DOTD has conducted its own EIS, the Corps’ EIS is the final say that allows DOTD officials to build the highway, Barlow said. Although the Corps has its own criteria to follow, it also hinges on public input. In essence, the new routes are partly permitted by the input of the little more than 70 people who attended the meeting.

Breaking out into five groups, Corps representatives on Thursday jotted down concerns from community members on a large stand-alone white stencil pad. And like the public furor that erupted roughly 20 years ago when then Sen. B.B. “Sixty” Rayburn proposed the 20-mile divided highway, residents voiced concerns over wetland issues, traffic, noise and some routes that slice through neighborhoods.

For instance, one route named route “P” would cut through Golden Oaks/Oak Knoll area near Money Hill near Abita Spring.

That neighborhood, which has boomed from 22 homes to more than 100 homes in 15 years and has more under construction, would see the four-lane highway slice the neighborhood in two, residents said. Many homeowners in that area that boasts five to 120-acre lots said they moved from Chalmette, St. Bernard and New Orleans to enjoy the sprawling serenity of the Northshore. But Route “P” threatens to shatter those dreams, said Steve Ball, vice president of the Golden Oaks/Oak Knoll Homeowners Association.

“Some of us worked our whole lives to get out of the city to come here and now you’re going to have a four-lane highway through it,” said Ball, who owns 22 acres. “We do not oppose the road, we oppose option P.”

Doody Chaplain, who also lives in the area and owns 37 acres, agrees.

“I don’t want it. I want the seclusion. I want the peace and quality,” he said.

But option “P” is just one route proposed and the one DOTD “prefers,” but in no way does their preference ultimately shape the final decision, Barlow said.

“If we’re going to lose three homes versus 100, obviously we want to only lose three,” Barlow said. “But we want a technically sound project that’s not challengeable.”

State Rep. Scott Simon, R-Abita Springs, who also lives in the Golden Oaks/ Oak Knoll area said change is inevitable.

“Progress is going to happen. You can plan for it or fight it. I want to err on the side of planning,” Simon said. “It needs to be built, it just needs to be built right.

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.

Despite its promise to connect St. Tammany’s robust economy, health care and quality of life to Washington Parish, the route has come under fire by environmental groups. The backlash has left the highway languishing in construction purgatory since at least 1990. Permits applications from the DOTD have been filed, pulled and refilled. The latest refilling occurred in 2006.

If the Corps chooses not to issue a permit based on its EIS, the DOTD has the chance to refile another application with different routes.