by Malcolm Butler
More than $7.1 million in infrastructure contracts and professional services agreements were approved by the Ruston City Council during Monday night’s meeting, including nearly $5 million for the next phase of improvements around the Tarbutton Road/I-20 interchange in preparation for Buc-ee’s and subsequent businesses that follow.
The council unanimously approved a $4,923,320.58 contract with Amethyst Construction of West Monroe for Phase 1A of the Tarbutton Road at I-20 project.
City Public Works Director John Freeman said the project will connect the existing I-20 westbound on-ramp at Tarbutton Road to the new I-20 frontage road extending west, along with a roundabout connection to Nugget Road.
Two bids were received for the project, with the winning bid coming in well below the engineer’s estimate of $6.2 million, according to Freeman. The project has a 260-calendar-day construction schedule.
During discussion, Mayor Ronny Walker said the work is not required to be completed before Buc-ee’s opens but is designed to provide motorists with additional access between the interstate and frontage road.
“This is the piece that, like everywhere in our city, if you get off the interstate, you can cross,” Walker said. “You can either take a slight left and get back on the interstate, or you can take a slight right and go to the stores or down the frontage road.”
The council also approved a $893,563 contract with David Lawler Construction Inc. of Shreveport for sewer rehabilitation work along selected portions of streets scheduled for future improvements.
Freeman said the project involves rehabilitation of gravity sewer mains and sewer services and is designed to complete underground infrastructure work before future street reconstruction or overlays. The project has a 150-calendar-day construction schedule and also came in below the engineer’s estimate.
Freeman said that approach is part of the city’s ongoing effort to avoid resurfacing streets only to cut into them later for utility work.
“We like to get about at least a year in advance of that and do the infrastructure work just underneath them so that we’re not overlaying a street this year, tearing it up next year trying to fix the water, sewer, whatever it might be,” Freeman said.
He said the city also coordinates with other utility providers to identify planned work that can be completed before a street is resurfaced.
The council then approved an $880,689 contract with Amethyst Construction for the 2026 Road Project Phase II. The project includes overlays of East Maryland Avenue, Center Street and Sunset Boulevard, where sewer improvements are nearing completion. Four bids were received for the project, which has a 100-calendar-day construction schedule.
Councilwoman Angela Mayfield, whose district includes the streets, said residents have dealt with inconveniences during the sewer work but are pleased with the improvements.
“We’ve had some ups and downs with the fact that they have to tear up the streets and things like that, but then the end result is, with them working on the sewer and everything, they’re ecstatic about that, especially with their water flow,” Mayfield said.
During discussion of the infrastructure work, William Faulkner, who is challenging Walker in this fall’s mayoral election, asked how the projects fit into the city’s larger capital plan and whether that plan was publicly available.
Walker said the projects are part of a long-term infrastructure plan approved by Ruston voters.
“Ten years ago, the people of Ruston voted on a 20-year plan,” Walker said. “This is part of that 20-year plan.”
Faulkner said he was not questioning whether the projects were needed but wanted to better understand how individual projects fit into the city’s overall plan.
The council also approved a $390,000 professional services agreement with Hunt, Guillot & Associates LLC for engineering services related to the Hilton Pasture Sewer Rehabilitation and System Improvements Project. The agreement includes engineering, surveying, design, the bid process, utility coordination and construction-phase services.
Walker said the sewer infrastructure is necessary to support development occurring in the Tarbutton Road area, including Buc-ee’s and other future development, as well as the new Ruston Junior High School.
“If you don’t have sewer, you can’t have businesses there,” Walker said. “You’ve got to have the infrastructure in place.”
Council members also approved a $43,400 contract with Amethyst Construction for drainage improvements adjacent to the newly constructed animal shelter driveway off South Farmerville Street.
The project, which includes new catch basins and storm drains, came in below the engineer’s estimate of $60,000 and has a 45-calendar-day construction schedule.
The council also approved a vegetation maintenance contract for the city’s electrical distribution system with Southern Sweeps LLC. The contract, which does not have a fixed total because work is based on hourly and storm-related rates, begins Oct. 1 and runs for 24 months with the possibility of three additional one-year extensions.
