Thread: Hearings to help finalize I-69 route through northwest Louis

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Hearings to help finalize I-69 route through northwest Louisiana
Hearings to help finalize route through northwest Louisiana.
July 6, 2005

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development will hold two public forums this month about the proposed Interstate 69 corridor between U.S. Highway 171 near Stonewall in DeSoto Parish and Interstate 20 near Haughton in Bossier Parish.
The hearings will be from 4 to 7 p.m. July 20 at Haughton Middle School, 395 S. Elm St. in Haughton, and July 21 at North DeSoto High School, 2571 U.S. Highway 171 in Stonewall.
In addition, the Texas Transportation Department has scheduled 37 public meetings to discuss the I-69 corridor. Among those are hearings set from 5 to 8 p.m. July 25 at the Marshall Civic Center, 2501 S. East End Blvd. in Marshall, Texas; July 26 at the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, 310 W. Panola St. in Carthage, Texas; July 27 at North DeSoto High School, 2571 U.S. Highway 171 in Stonewall; and Aug. 4 at Center High School, 302 Kennedy St. in Center, Texas.
By Don Walker

donwalker@gannett.com

In 64 years of dairy farming in rural DeSoto Parish, James Burford has consolidated his property from a once sprawling 2,200 acres to a modest 775 acres.

He learned Tuesday that the future corridor of Interstate 69 one day may eat up countless more acres, turning the retired dairy farmer's land just south of Stonewall into roadside real estate. Where there once were seven proposed corridors for I-69's route between Stonewall and Haughton, there now is one.

"I'm on the hill. If they don't make me move my house, that's all that matters," said Burford, 85. "I don't imagine I'll see it, but it won't bother me. It'll come through and we'll get used to it."

Not everyone along Red Bluff Road is as amenable as Burford. And he knows it.

"They say they'll fight it. And I tell them go ahead then, spend $25,000 on a lawyer while they're coming through. They'll go where they want to go."

Those with property or vested interests along the proposed I-69 corridor between Stonewall and Haughton will get an opportunity later this month to air their opinions, or at least seek answers, on what impact the interstate may have on them.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development will hold two public forums to detail a chosen "preferred I-69 corridor" between U.S. Highway 171 near Stonewall and Interstate 20 near Haughton. "The hearings will show you what the recommended alignment is for the roadway, which will show you whether your property will be subject to impact from this project or not," said Kent Rogers, executive director of the Northwest Louisiana Council of Government.

The proposed highway is part of the I-69 corridor that one day will link Indianapolis to the lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

In northwest Louisiana, five area parishes lie on the long-proposed 1,600-mile extension that would create the nation's busiest highway for shuttling trade goods between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

DOTD is conducting an environmental impact and location study for a 35-mile section of I""69 through Bossier, Caddo and DeSoto parishes. This project will provide a divided, four-lane, limited access highway between U.S. Highway 171 and I-20.

In all, there are 15 proposed projects along the proposed corridor. "Each of these sections could stand on its own as a project if no others ever get done," Rogers said.

The estimated price tag of I-69's construction between Stonewall and Haughton is about $500 million, he said.

That's similar in financial scope to another area interstate project, a 34-mile extension of Interstate 49 from Shreveport to Arkansas. The long-touted yet short-funded project is considered vital for economic development in northwest Louisiana.

The planned I-69 corridor will pass through Port of Shreveport-Bossier property, giving the site another transportation advantage for tenants that truck their products nationwide.

"Everybody's been hearing about both of these roads forever," Rogers said. "With federal money involved, you can't just wiggle your nose and boom, it's there.

Both projects are contingent on federal transportation funding, which also will require matching funds from the state, he said.

"Progress is being made. You'll see I-49 before I-69. But there's a very strong likelihood you could see construction on the two at the same time," he said.

"Out of these I-69 hearings, after there's public input on the process and the DOTD can address any concerns, transportation officials can submit a final environmental impact statement to the (Environmental Protection Agency) and Federal Highway Administration for a record of decision," Rogers said. "Once that's in hand, they can start final engineering, right of way purchase and land acquisition."

The state's preferred corridor shows the I-69 corridor running just south of Haughton and Stonewall.

"Oh, my goodness" was Beverly Williamson's reaction. Her family owns 200 acres along the interstate's projected path.

"It's just a shame. There's not too many dairy farms left as it is. They'll be destroying some beautiful land, as far as I'm concerned," she said. "I think they could find a better route that would not uproot people who have been here for years."

I-69 construction won't begin anytime soon, but that will allow the state to focus on I-49 construction without having to come up with funds to match federal dollars for I-69 at the same time, said state Rep. Billy Montgomery, D-Haughton. Still, he said, both projects will have enormous benefit for the northwest Louisiana economy.

"I'm very interested in the interstates. You put I-69 here and complete I-49 and I-69, this will be the hub of all the traffic in the South," Montgomery said. "It's just a great opportunity for us. We can't miss it."

Build the Hwy and they will come....

HEY!! Isn't this that same I-69 from Indianapolis to Canada, the FTAA HIGHWAY linking Canada with Mexico through the US? Oh Yeeeeah, someone posted the "MAP"... of the leg from Indiananpolis to Canada. This must be the Northern Leg. The Southern Leg must be the one from Tex-Mex to Indianapolis.

Whew....THEY ARE MOVING FAST!!