By Malcolm Butler
A company with longstanding ties to Ruston and North Louisiana is putting down more permanent roots near the Tarbutton Road interchange.
JB James Construction owner Jeff James recently purchased additional property near Tarbutton Road, increasing his holdings in the area to approximately 40 to 45 acres while the company moves forward with construction of a permanent North Louisiana office.
James said he already owned approximately 30 acres in the area, property he has held since around the time his company constructed the Tarbutton Road interchange in 2018.
“I did buy the adjacent property recently, but we’re building a permanent office on the site to support our construction operation,” James said.
Work on the office is already underway. James said approximately two acres at the corner have been cleared, and Heard Construction poured the slab for the new building several weeks ago.
“That’s where the permanent office will be for our North Louisiana staff,” James said. “We’ve had work in North Louisiana for 30 years, and we just decided it was time to put something permanent here.”
James said the property will also provide space for material and equipment storage, including support for the company’s ongoing work on the Tech Drive overpass project at Interstate 20.
The recent land purchase consolidates James’ holdings around the site. He said the property has access to Tarbutton Road, the I-20 frontage road and West Alabama Avenue, although residential lots remain along West Alabama.
With Buc-ee’s expected to spur additional commercial development around the Tarbutton interchange, James said the acquisition was not made with another development project currently in mind.
“This was just that the property came for sale,” James said. “Since I’m building the permanent office there, I thought we needed to consolidate the ownership of that corner. It just made sense.”
James said discussions with the neighboring property owner ultimately led to the purchase.
“He needed to buy me or I needed to buy him,” James said. “It just made sense for one person to own that.”
Meanwhile, JB James continues work on the Cooktown Bridge overpass project, another major infrastructure project along the I-20 corridor in Ruston.
“We’re clicking along with Tech Drive overpass,” James said. “Hopefully, we’ll see some girders going in the air here before long, so that’ll be exciting news.”
James acknowledged the project will continue to create traffic inconveniences as construction progresses, particularly because lanes must be reduced during portions of the work.
“The problem with any construction like that is that you have to reduce lanes to be able to build,” James said. “It’s just road construction. The key is to get it done quickly and minimize the impacts to the traveling public. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Traffic on Tech Drive and over the current Cooktown Bridge continues to be a concern for Ruston officials and motorists with students returning for fall quarter at Louisiana Tech.
