New Orleans — Mississippi Department of Transportation Executive Director Larry L. “Butch” Brown shared the stage with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at the first Surface Transportation Reauthorization Tour, hosted by the U.S. DOT in New Orleans, recently.

Brown moderated one of three panels at the outreach tour.

Brown said that preserving the existing transportation system and adding needed capacity to meet continuing population growth should be one of the nation’s top priorities.

“Over the next 20 years, this country’s population is expected to grow by at least 50 million. That is the equivalent of adding over 100 cities the size of New Orleans to the national economy,” Brown said.

Brown also expressed his strong support for retaining the current federal-state partnership.