Posted: Dec 5, 2024, 4:09 PM
The long-awaited opening of the North/South Corridor Project is now complete and open to traffic.
Parish officials proudly cut the ribbon on the roadway officially named Veterans Parkway undeterred by yesterday’s rain.
Speakers for the event were Parish Administrator Butch Ford, Bossier Parish Sheriff Julian Whittington, and Police Jury President Philip Rodgers. Each speaker expressed their gratitude for the roadway's opening and the effort invested to reach this day. “This is a great day for Bossier Parish,” said Mr. Ford. “I want to thank everyone who had the vision to see the need for this roadway and all the work put into getting us to this day.”
The 7-mile parkway is an alternative route for north and south-bound traffic in the parish. Drivers can now exit to I-220 at Swan Lake Road and travel north to LA Hwy 162 via Crouch Rd. Developers say this will help ease the Benton Road and Airline Drive traffic.
The parkway cost taxpayers more than $42 million of which $20 million came from federal dollars and $22 million from Bossier Parish. Construction on the new parkway began in 2003, based on a proposed route by Coyle Engineering Company. In 2007 the parish received $8 million from the National Infrastructure Transportation Bill with help from former U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter. Former Congressman Jim McCrery and Bossier Lobbyist Susie Morgan were instrumental in securing funds for the project. State Representative Billy Montgomery aided the project with $600,000 in seed money from the state Capital Outlay Funding.
From 2010 to 2017, 117 parcels of land were acquired by the police jury from more than 150 landowners. In addition, Kent Rodgers with NLCOG helped to secure the $20 million in funding for Phase I of the project in 2017.
In the Spring of 2018, Phase I of the project began with $14 million in Federal funds and $5 million in parish funds. Bossier City also added $2 million for the improvements to the Swan Lake Road and I-220 Interchange.
In 2022, the Police Jury agreed to self-fund Phase II of the project at the cost of $21 million. Phase II of the project took more than two years to complete.
Ms. Wanda Bennett’s Proclamation
During the regular meeting Doug Rimmer, District 8 Juror, read and presented a proclamation to the family of Ms. Wanda Bennett, who served three terms with the Bossier Parish Police Jury and was the first woman elected to serve as a juror in Bossier Parish.
Part of the proclamation read, “The Bossier Parish Police Jury does hereby honor Ms. Wanda Bennett for her dedicated life and significant contributions to the betterment of Bossier Parish and extends its sincerest condolences to her family and friends, as her life and legacy will continue to live on within Bossier Parish and through all those who knew and loved her.”
In a loving gesture, all the jurors expressed their gratitude for the life and work of Ms. Bennett by standing and applauding.
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