Bossier pledges $3 million toward Barksdale I-20/220 access

The Bossier City Council has passed a resolution pledging $3 million toward upgrading the I-20/220 interchange in Bossier City to provide increased access to Barksdale Air Force Base.

The interchange and a new gate at Barksdale have long been top transportation priorities for local officials.

Gov. John Bel Edwards announced in January that the interchange was one of the mega projects that could benefit from the state using federal construction bonds known as GARVEE bonds to construct $600 million in interstate projects.

“The result will be a wider, more modern traffic flow that will assist the eastern portions of the base’s housing developments without the interference from rail tracks,” Rocky Rockett, director of the Greater Bossier Economic Development Foundation, previously told The Times.

More: Barksdale I-20/220 interchange upgrade a top priority

The project could also open the east side of Barksdale for potential new missions and reduce transportation time for families living on that side of the base.

"The existing east gate has a terrible problem with access when a train is transiting that crossing near Industrial Drive," Murray Viser of Barksdale Forward previously told The Times. "This causes traffic backups for folks trying to exit and enter Barksdale."

The total estimated cost of the project is $90 million and will require a 20 percent match from local entities in the amount of $18 million to be paid for over 12 years — $12 million from the Northwest Louisiana Council of Governments (NLCOG), and $3 million each from the City of Bossier City and the Bossier Parish Police Jury.

The police jury passed its own resolution committing to paying $3 million earlier this month. Both the police jury and the city will pay $250,000 each year over 12 years.

More:I-20 access into Barksdale closer to reality

Without the local contributions, the area “would not be able to get this crucially needed gate into Barksdale due to the world situation such as it is now, and the responsibility the base has for nuclear weapons and deterrents,” Bossier Mayor Lo Walker told the city council on Tuesday. “It’s also been approved for design and build, which suggests it may be completed earlier than 12 years, but still the funding will remain the same.”

Finance Director Stacie Fernandez said the funds from the city would come from its Riverboat Capital Projects Fund.

Completion of the interchange will directly support national security and also have a major economic impact on state and local economies, the city’s resolution states.

“We’ve been calling that our number one priority for years,” Walker said. “The base is really appreciative of it because of the intended upgrade of the weapons storage area, which will also bring a new gun range, a new dormitory for the security police personnel…  It is a tremendous aid to the mission out at Barksdale for this interchange to be completed as soon as is feasible.”

Walker said there are more state committee meetings ahead where the proposed plans will be discussed.

"It's not a total done deal yet," he said. "But it looks extremely good."

Representatives from Northwest Louisiana attended a meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget in Baton Rouge on Thursday, where Bossier Chamber of Commerce President Lisa Johnson brought about 50 letters from politicians and other local groups in support of the Barksdale project.

“For the programs and the missions that they have coming down the pipeline, we have to have this infrastructure in place,” Johnson said. “We need the state and those in the appropriate capacities…they need to understand that our timing is not long, it is short.”