Plan maps out potential future of Caddo, Bossier thoroughfares

A comprehensive plan mapping out the potential for growth of the corridors in Caddo and Bossier parishes is in the works by the Northwest Louisiana Council of Governments.

NLCOG Executive Director Kent Rogers spoke to the Bossier City Council on Tuesday about the Caddo-Bossier Regional Thoroughfare Plan, which aims to provide a mechanism to identify and preserve right-of-way for corridor development and provide guidance for future roadway design.

Rogers said he plans to make a similar presentation on the plan, which was formulated using local city and parish maps, to the other governmental entities in Caddo and Bossier parishes soon.

“What the thoroughfare plan has done is take all these different plans and documents that we’ve done over the years for highways and road projects, smash them together, find out which ones potentially need future right-of-way, and identify those corridors that would need future right-of-way,” Rogers said.

The thoroughfare plan, part of the NLCOG’s Long Range Transportation Plan, aims to map out where future right-of-way may be needed to expand thoroughfares as the region develops, so that local governmental entities can work with developers to accommodate that need for room to grow.  

It does not list all transportation projects, but only corridors that will likely need additional right-of-way in the future.

“The real purpose of it is to outline — here’s where the city and the parish and the planning commission and all the different bodies that have to do with planning, here’s where we feel we need future facilities or expanded facilities to help with growth, development, whatnot in the region,” Rogers said.

One example he provided was that of Swan Lake Road in Bossier Parish, which is being extended as a three-lane road. To accommodate expected growth in the area, right-of-way will be cleared for the potential to build a five-lane facility down the line.

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Bossier Councilman Tim Larkin expressed concern on Tuesday that the plan might impose limitations on how property owners can use their land if right-of-way is needed in the general area in the future.

“Everyone is going to interpret this in some way, and I think if we’re going to adopt legislation that plans thoroughfares, then we sure ought to have a clear set of rules so that when a farmer sees a red line going across this land (on a map), he really knows what it means,” Larkin said. “I think it’s really important to have the rules, regulations, and whatever we’re going to do clear when we pass legislation that enacts this, particularly when we’re doing it within the community.”

Rogers said the plan is meant only to be a resource that aids Caddo and Bossier planning commissions and other local governmental entities as development happens in the area.

“The implementation and the rules and regulations that guide this process come through your UDC, then through the appropriate ordinances or regulations or whatnot that are done through the council and through the police jury,” he said. “We’re not propagating down any new rules or regulations.”

He also said the future corridor lines on the map are not set in stone and can be adjusted based on the needs of a developer.

“We’re not producing anything new for anybody, we’re not changing anything they’re doing,” he said. “We’re providing them some tools.”

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Metropolitan Planning Organization Deputy Director Chris Petro said the plan's goal is to give both the governmental entities and the developers something to reference as they work together to make sure construction is completed in the most beneficial way for future expansion.

“The developer is put on notice saying, yes, we plan to have a corridor through your parcel that you’re developing in the future,” Petro said. “So let’s work together now to make it a win-win for everybody so that’s successful, that we can still utilize that, and fill out that corridor to serve the public’s needs as well as serve your private property that you’re developing.”

The finalized draft plan will eventually be voted on for adoption by the Caddo and Bossier metropolitan planning commissions, the Shreveport and Bossier city councils and the Bossier Parish Police Jury and Caddo Parish Commission.

For more about the Caddo-Bossier Regional Thoroughfare Plan, visit www.nlcoglistens.com/caddo-bossier-regional-thoroughfare-plan.