Posted: Oct 24, 2019, 1:30 PM
State Senators Ryan Gatti (District 36) and Barrow Peacock (District 37) were honored Wednesday with certificates of appreciation from the Bossier Parish Police Jury in recognition of their efforts to secure funding for the extension of I-220 onto Barksdale Air Force Base.
Work is already underway on initial stages of the $90 million project, 20 percent of which is coming from local governments. Bossier Parish and Bossier City are each paying $3 million over a 12-year period and the Northwest Louisiana Council of Governments/Metropolitan Planning Organization is contributing $12 million.
A portion of the funding came from the state’s first issuance of GARVEE bonds, which are special bonds that are repaid using federal funds allocated to Louisiana. According to Sen. Gatti, only three projects in the state are using GARVEE bonds.
“This project shows that cooperation of government at all levels can get things accomplished,” Sen. Peacock said. “It took a lot of hard work and we will see the results.”
“This was a long time coming and many people worked hard to secure the funding,” Sen. Gatti added. “This effort is going to be a huge benefit to Shreveport and Bossier City and to towns like Doyline, Haughton, Minden, Benton and others.”
Both Gatti and Peacock agreed that the new BAFB entrance will also have an economic impact on businesses in the area and will spur development.
Photos: Some of the dignitaries attending the appreciation ceremony included (from left) parish police jury President Doug Rimmer, North Louisiana Council of Governments Director Kent Rogers, Senator Barrow Peacock, police jury liaison Billy Montgomery, Bossier Parish Administrator Bill Altimus, Senator Ryan Gatti, Bossier Parish Engineer Butch Ford, parish District 5 police jury member Jack "Bump" Skaggs and parish consulting engineer Bruce Easterly.
Senators Barrow Peacock (left) and Ryan Gatti (right) show the certificate of appreciation and aerial photos of the ongoing I-220 extension project. Making the presentations was police jury President Doug Rimmer.
