Before last Tuesday’s Bossier City Council meeting, I talked to City Engineer Mark Hudson about the city’s current and future road projects. Hudson said that the Swan Lake Road project, which includes major improvements, is going well and next up will be the Shed Road widening between Airline Drive and Benton Road.
Several weeks ago I stopped by the Bossier Parish Police Jury on a day of successive committee meetings, and visited with Jury Administrator Bill Altimus during a break. I asked about an easel holding a large map of the Kingston Road area. Altimus explained the Jury’s expectation of dramatic growth along Kingston Road, including a new school, two new subdivisions, and anticipated commercial growth – and the Jury’s plan to accommodate that growth with speedy road improvements.
This week, Bossier Parish teachers were acknowledged as the highest performing in the state – which was certainly no surprise to those who live in the parish.
Apparently folks outside our state are also aware of that distinction, according to Cypress Black Bayou park interim director Robert Berry. At an August board meeting, Berry advised members that a small group of folks working on a special project for a national energy concern needs to make our area home for several months. As they’ll be bringing their families and staying in RVs, they’d like to stay at the park’s RV area and take advantage of Bossier Parish’s excellent schools.
As most know, Sam’s Club is coming to north Bossier’s Sterling Center, and another national retailer may also be locating along the Airline Drive retail corridor in the near future.
For years I’ve been accused of being one of Bossier’s biggest cheerleaders.
And I am – for so many good reasons.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be detailing the Bossier Parish Police Jury’s planning and work on a parish-wide sewer and water district; development and execution of a broad transportation improvement plan; work to improve/replace parish bridges; and recreation improvements no one dreamed of a decade ago.
These people – Jury members and the Jury’s staff – do not sit still. And it shows – all over the parish.
The same is true in Bossier City. The results of the city’s adherence to its transportation improvement plan are evident all over the city. Planning to extend the ART Parkway north continues and in the not too distant future, we’ll be able to travel from south Bossier north to Benton Road unimpeded by any railroad crossing. That will be a “first” for Bossier City residents.
The Bossier Parish School Board’s construction plans are underway and over the next few years, new schools will be springing up all over Bossier Parish, including a new state-of-the art technical school. Other schools will undergo major renovations – and all will be staffed by the highest performing teachers in Louisiana.
And at Bossier Parish Community College, construction is underway for the training center that will house Bentler Steel’s employee training program – and which can also be used by the school for other training endeavors. Another new building could soon be on the way when local matching funding is identified to go with the state’s allocation of $18 million for a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) facility.
What’s not to cheer?
Marty Carlson is a columnist for the Bossier Press-Tribune. She may be reached via email at m_carlso@bellsouth.net
“What’s not to cheer?”
Want to try traffic jams, strains on utilities,
Superstructure upkeep, just to name a few?
Personally, I can only see that our city and parish administrators are working to bring in more tax money so they can increase their own salaries and appoint more of their friends and relatives to high paying positions!
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