BATON ROUGE — A state representative is asking the White House to designate a new Mississippi River bridge in the Baton Rouge area as a nationally significant freight and mobility project.

State Rep. Paul Sawyer, R-Baton Rouge, sent a letter to the White House making the request, saying the recognition would bring more federal attention to the project, strengthen Louisiana's case for federal funding and financing and help coordinate the permitting process.

Sawyer says Baton Rouge commuters lose 68 hours a year sitting in traffic and the ripple effects go beyond frustration.

"The hit to Louisiana is a $900 million hit; the hit regionally is a $290 million hit. That's 3.8 million hours that businesses lose," Sawyer said.

Sawyer said the I-10 and I-12 corridor is the busiest freight route in the country and that the bottleneck happens right in Baton Rouge.

"Have goods and services going through the busiest corridor in the United States of America," Sawyer said. "The I-10, I-12 corridor moves more goods and services than anywhere else in the country. And it bottlenecks right here in Baton Rouge at the Capital Region."

One resident said the bridge backups are already pushing drivers to find other routes, sometimes adding 30 to 40 minutes to a morning commute.

"It's not just aggravation sitting in traffic all day," Sawyer said. "We have the metrics to say just how much this costs you and me, just how much it costs the region, the state and why it matters to the United States of America."

Sawyer says the White House has responded and is looking at the issue.