A series of public meetings get underway Wednesday to bring residents of northwest Louisiana up to speed on the status of the interstate 69 project.
The more than 2,600-mile interstate will cut through eight states from Port Huron, Michigan, to Laredo, Texas, gateways to Canada and Mexico. I-69 will clip the corner of Louisiana accounting for 90 miles, according Bossier City Mayor Lo Walker. He is president of I-69 Mid-continent Highway Coalition Inc. and has worked to advance I-69 for more than 20 years.
“We’re trying to get all our senators and legislators up and down the corridor to sign one document to go to our leaders in Washington saying, we need funding. We need dedicated funding for this project, $29 billion in all,” Walker said.
I-69 will cost $2 billion to build out in Louisiana with federal dollars picking up 80 percent of the cost. Once I-69 is completed it will serve 23 million people and account for more than half of the truck traffic crossing the U.S. border with Mexico, according to Max LeComte, CEO of Coordinating and Development Corp. in Shreveport. Despite the data, in Louisiana, the project hasn’t carried much political momentum.
“Our problem on I-69 in Northwest Louisiana is it only goes through four parishes,” LeComte said, who also serves as vice president of the I-69 Coalition in the state. “We have very limited political support because we have so few legislators, so few mayors, so few parish police juries that can support it versus other projects going on in the state.”
LeComte says these grassroots informational meetings – three Wednesdays in a row -- are designed to get more people on board. Corridor maps and environmental impact studies will be on display.
The public information meeting schedule is:
Wednesday, May 6, Bossier Civic Center, 620 Benton Road, Bossier City;
Wednesday, May 13, Claiborne Parish Library, 909 Edgewood Drive, Homer; and,
Wednesday, May 20, Stonewall Community Center, 5208 Highway 3276, Stonewall.
All meetings begin at 2 p.m.
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