by Malcolm Butler
Plenty of infrastructure dollars have been spent on roads in Ruston, especially the downtown area recently, during Mayor Ronny Walker’s tenure in office.
It’s been a priority along with new sidewalks and bike trails.
However, one glaring area that remains in desperate need of not only repairs — but a complete overhaul — are the bridges over Interstate 20.
The good news is the Louisiana Tech exit bridge should see a brand new look and traffic pattern in the near future, according to Walker. It’s been something he has been working on since he took office.
“The state had $30 million budgeted for it, but it’s going to cost $48 million,” said Walker. “So (State representatives) Chris Turner and Jack McFarland, and (state senators) Jay Luneau and Jay Morris went in and got us $18 million more.
“We had $30 million in this year’s budget, and they got $18 million more to get the full $48 million. So now it is scheduled to be bid in 2026, but there is a big push by those same guys to get it moved up to 2025.”
Just a few weekends ago, Walker said the city had to call the state Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) when a part of the bridge became alarmingly exposed.
“We had a large piece (of the bridge) where the iron rods … the concrete had totally come away from it,” said Walker. “It was on the right tire if you were going north on the bridge. Your right tire would have hit that part. They came in and asphalted it. That’s great but it doesn’t completely solve the problem as a whole.
“We think it will be in 2025 that they are going to bid it. The money is there, and there is no reason they shouldn’t.”
Walker said once the bid process begins it will be at least a year process.
Once the actual construction process begins, Walker said the bridge won’t be just fixed. It will actually be rebuilt in a slightly separate footprint.
“It will be built about 150 feet to the west (of the current one),” said Walker. “That’s what the plans were. It would basically be built on the east boundary of the parking lot in front of Hobby Lobby. They will be able to build this one while people are still able to utilize the existing bridge so it won’t totally interrupt traffic flow.”
Walker also said the plans call for three roundabouts to be build with the new bridge, two on the north and one on the south. He also said the new bridge wouldn’t be perfectly parallel to the existing one.
“On the north side you will have one roundabout for the exit and one for the service road,” said Walker. “I don’t know exactly how they will position them. That’s what is planned now. Now we know that is always subject to change.”
Walker said that the traffic studies needed for all of this have already been done.
“Nine years ago during my first quarter of my first term as mayor, I went to Baton Rouge and I said, ‘What do I have to do to get the (Tech Exit) bridge replaced?’ said Walker. “They said the had to do (A, B and C). And I said, ‘Well how long are we talking?”
“They told me it would be eight years, and here we are nine years later. So they just have certain things that take time and you can’t speed it up. It’s part of the process.”
Walker admitted the Highway 167 bridge needs to be replaced as well, but is unsure of any type of timeline on it. He also mentioned the addition of a fifth bridge.
“We are planning a fifth exit on Rough Edge Road that will take you to the airport,” said Walker. “It will provide direct access to a lot more land to the east of us that can still be developed. We got a $4.5 million earmark from Senator Bill Cassidy’s office to do that.”
Walker said he isn’t 100 percent sure of timeline.
“I would love to say six to eight years, but it could be 10 to 12,” said Walker. “That’s the long-range plans we have.”
