Bossier Parish leaders aim to keep up with population growth
Sarah CrawfordAs Bossier Parish and its municipalities continue to grow, infrastructure improvements top the list of priorities for parish, city and town leaders.
“The growth of the parish has really taken over to where it’s hard to keep up the infrastructure,” Bossier Parish Police Jury President Glenn Benton said Thursday at the annual State of Bossier Address.
A number of officials — Benton, Bossier City Mayor Lo Walker, Benton Mayor Shelly Horton, Haughton Mayor Jack Hicks and Plain Dealing Mayor David Smith — spoke about their communities’ challenges and priorities, as well as their vision for the next five years, at the event hosted by the Bossier Parish Chamber of Commerce.
According to the latest data published by the Greater Bossier Economic Development Foundation, Bossier Parish is projected to grow by more than 11,000 residents from 2017 to 2022. Bossier City is projected to add about 5,000 residents over the next five years.
“Traffic congestion in Bossier City and Bossier Parish, unfortunately it’s going to be a continuing problem,” Walker said. “Believe me, a lot of parishes would love to have the traffic problems we do.”
Walker noted the multiple road projects planned in Bossier City to alleviate traffic and accommodate growth, including Shed Road, Innovation Drive, Viking Drive and the north parkway extension.
Another top priority, Walker said, is ensuring the upgrade of 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 mega projects that could benefit from the state using federal construction bonds known as GARVEE bonds to construct $600 million in interstate projects.
“That’s not only important to Barksdale for their missions and the people who live on the base, but it’s extremely important for national security,” Walker said.
One challenge for the City of Bossier City, Walker said, is providing the same level of services to a growing community when the city is operating with about 200 fewer employees than it had almost 10 years ago.
The city was forced to begin laying off dozens of workers in late 2009 due to a 2010 budget deficit.
“In 2009, we had almost 900 employees; as of now we have about 700 employees,” he said.
Horton, Hicks and Smith also spoke on the need to continue improving roads, water and sewer services in their respective communities.
Looking toward the future, leaders see continued growth. Walker said he specifically expects to see more cyber activity in Bossier City, as well as growth at Barksdale.
Smith noted that the completion of I-49 could benefit Plain Dealing.
“I think that will position us most favorably for industry to come,” he said.
Horton said he expects to see an expansion of the Benton town limits, and he also sees more businesses coming to town.
For the parish as a whole, accommodating the growth in every direction will be a continuing challenge for the next five years, said Benton, who has served on the police jury since 2008.
“We’ve had a 29,000 increase in population since the year 2000, and a lot of parishes in the state are not that large,” Benton said. “It’s good to have an increase in population, but the infrastructure — we still have to build the roads, we still have to get the water, the sewer.”
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