More funding approved as Bossier parkway construction nears

An ordinance appropriating almost $1 million in supplemental funding for construction of the first phase of the Walter O. Bigby Carriageway was passed by the Bossier City Council Tuesday.

The carriageway will serve as a northern parkway extension that, when completed, will help alleviate traffic and allow commuters to drive through Bossier City without ever being stopped by a train.

The council in December previously approved appropriating $10.7 million to fund the first phase of the construction, beginning at U.S. 80 (East Texas Street).

According to the ordinance adopted on Tuesday, additional funding of $900,000 from the Walter O. Bigby Carriageway Fund was required to supplement existing funds covering the cost of construction, third-party inspection, possible change order items and other incidental costs.

The $50 million project will use U.S. 80 in downtown Bossier to begin the new route, which will utilize Old Benton Road, Hamilton Road, abandoned Union Pacific railway property and roundabouts to get travelers from Texas to Benton Road.

Three roundabouts will be created at Texas Street, Hamilton Road and Shed Road to allow drivers to get on and off the extension.

A new road will be built on abandoned railway property, eventually running alongside existing Union Pacific railroad. An overpass will also be built over the Union Pacific railroad track north of Citizens Bank Drive, and the extension will end at Benton Road.

“Once these things are all built, you could virtually go through Bossier and never hit a train,” Bossier City Chief Administrative Officer Pam Glorioso previously told The Times. “That’s the goal.”

Phase 1 of the project will cover the portion of the parkway extension from Traffic Street at the Texas Street Bridge to Old Benton Road, Glorioso previously told The Times.

“Phase 2 will be from that point to Highway 3, including the overpass portion,” Glorioso said.

The carriageway is to be named after late state Rep. Walter O. Bigby, who lived in Bossier City and served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1968 to 1979.

In 1988, a room hallway at the Louisiana House of Representatives was named after Bigby, who was also selected by The Times in 1999 as one of the 100 most influential people of Northwest Louisiana over the past century. He died in 1980.

Councilman David Montgomery on Tuesday requested that the city hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the beginning of Phase 1 construction and invite family members of Bigby to attend.

“This is a monumental occasion,” Montgomery said.

Bossier City Engineer Mark Hudson has said he expects construction of the parkway extension to take at least two and a half years.