(The Center Square) – A $128 million upgrade to Interstate 20 in Bossier City is on track to wrap up in March. The rebuilt stretch, built in the 1960s, handles roughly 70,000 to 100,000 vehicles daily.
The federal National Highway Performance Program funded 90% of the cost, while the state covered 10%.
Motorists’ “memory of I-20 through northwest Louisiana will no longer be of potholes,” said Erin Buchanan, public information officer for the Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development. “Instead, they’ll recall a pleasant trip that provided the modernized connectivity expected from an interstate system.”
The project is about 99% complete. The roadway west of Benton road to Industrial Drive, in both directions, is fully reconstructed, along with all of the ramps at five interchanges.
JB James Construction started the project in September 2023 and has achieved near-completion without a major delay, Buchanan confirmed. Work left to be completed includes applying permanent roadway striping, roadway lighting and signage installation.
Investing in a critically important northwest Louisiana interstate system brings anticipated economic development opportunities, because “companies are more likely to invest in areas where transporting goods and personnel can be done easily and efficiently,” she added. “This project will mean a vastly enhanced travel experience.”
A future project in the planning phase is repairing I-20 from I-49 to I-220 in Shreveport.
Over the last five years, the Bossier work ranks fifth in the state for comparable projects.
Topping the list is a $463 million major construction project to State Highway 1 in Lafourche Parish, followed by a $361 million replacement of the Jimmie Davis Bridge between Shreveport and Bossier.
The I-20 corridor across north Louisiana and Jimmie Davis Bridge are core commercial and passenger travel routes for the northwest region.
