by Malcolm Butler
United States Senator Bill Cassidy (R) stood before local officials and businessmen and businesswomen Monday afternoon, singing the praises of the relationship between the City of Ruston and Louisiana Tech University.
Cassidy’s remarks were part of the ribbon cutting ceremony held for the Monroe Street Corridor Project, a $26 million infrastructure that Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker called “transformational.” In the works for more than seven years, the ground-breaking for the project was in August of 2021 and on Monday official gathered to celebrate its completion.
“This project is important for a lot of reasons,” said Cassidy, who was highly instrumental in helping obtain the $17.5 million grant that funded the majority of the project. “Let me compliment the city and the city leaders for having the vision for the project. It shows that when you have vision and you work hard to bring it together, this type of project can be completed. It’s important for Ruston, and it’s important for our state.”
Cassidy, who has held his US Senator seat since 2015, said that the project is an illustration that the rest of the state of Louisiana should follow in many regards.
“I brag on this project wherever I go,” said Cassidy. “I tell people (Ruston) went after this RAISE grant … and now they have this project with a long-term strategic vision. They had the vision. They committed to it. And they made it happen.
“You are a success story in your own right. You are an example to everyone else in the state. If iron sharpens iron, you are swinging iron right now. And I am hoping that the iron you are swinging makes the rest of us even better.”
The Monroe Street Corridor Project is composed of seven interconnected multiple infrastructure projects that increased the efficiency and safety between Louisiana Tech, its Enterprise Campus and downtown Ruston and I-20.
Tech President Dr. Jim Henderson knows the overall importance of this project and future one’s like it in the continued growth of enrollment and advancement of the University.
“We just enrolled the largest freshman class in the 130 year history of this University,” said Henderson. “That’s a tribute to the hard work of a lot of people that are part of the Tech Family, but also a lot of people that are part of the Ruston Family. You can barely separate the two.”
Henderson boasted about the University’s relationship with the City of Ruston and vice versa.
“I think it’s ideal that (Monroe Street) runs two ways,” said Henderson. “It brings Louisiana Tech into downtown Ruston and yet it brings downtown Ruston right onto your campus and your University. That symbiotic relationship between (the city and the University). It’s so mutually beneficial. There is not a better place in America to go to school then Ruston, Louisiana and Louisiana Tech University.”
Walker echoed Henderson’s sentiments while also pointing out the impact of the project on the Center for the Blind and its residents.
“The biggest thing about this project is that it was a partnership,” said Walker. “The city of Ruston was the lead author of the grant, but then we had the partnership with Louisiana Tech and also the Center for the Blind. It’s a huge plus for them as they traverse the streets of our community. This is just another great opportunity for all of us to come together and partner on a great project.”
Pamela Allen, Executive Director for the Center for the Blind, said the Monroe Street Corridor Project truly is a difference maker to the 20 to 25 students that the center averages during a given time.
“Improvements to Ruston that are good for pedestrians are obviously good for blind pedestrians,” said Allen. “It benefits us as blind people because we don’t drive so we walk more than the average person. It’s a win win. Any improvement to streets is going to benefit us as part of this community.
“It benefits our students and our staff and any blind person who has decided to make Ruston their home. The Monroe Street Corridor is the connection with downtown and with Louisiana Tech. We have several students who are enrolled at Louisiana Tech. We are just really excited about the benefits that it adds to the city as a whole, and we are definitely taking advantage of them.”
