Louisiana's $123M I-20 project has faced unexpected challenges, including 18-wheeler accidents due to rainy conditions. LaDOTD enforced a truck ban and utilized an interstate bypass. The project, funded by NHPP, aims to improve travel safety and efficiency, with completion expected by late 2025/early 2026.
LaDODT photo
The $123 million, three-phase project began in the fall of 2023 and is the first major rehabilitation effort since the interstate system was built in the late 1960s
The Louisiana Department of Transportation (LaDOTD) worked long and hard to get a traffic management plan approved so they could proceed with reconstruction work on a 3.5-mi. section of Interstate 20 through Bossier City. They knew traffic was going to be a problem and even with their best efforts, envisioned backups stretching miles and miles. As it turned out, two months into the project, they discovered the dreaded miles-long queues weren't the issue, but rather a glitch no one had foreseen and one with the potential to be dangerous, even deadly.
"This issue reared its head as we hit the rainy season," said Erin Buchanan, public information officer of LaDOTD. "In the first phase, the outside lane was open, and the 18-wheelers would shy away from the concrete barriers, putting their tires on the outside edge. When it got wet, that tire would hit the outer edge of grass and mud and could not recover. They would tumble down the embankment. Thankfully, there were no major injuries, but it was hours and hours of recovery time for these very large vehicles."
The LaDOTD solved the problem by prohibiting 18-wheelers from the construction site, which was easy enough since an alternate route is nearby.
"We are lucky that we have an interstate bypass, and it is perfectly situated on either end of the project limits," Buchanan said. "It is equipped to handle the increase in traffic, and it is located right there at the work zone. They can take that bypass and not be put out of their way very far, especially for through traffic to get to Texas or eastbound, the bypass puts them right where they need to be."
The $123 million, three-phase project began in the fall of 2023 and is the first major rehabilitation effort since the interstate system was built in the late 1960s. With an average of 80,000-100,000 vehicles per day, the reconstruction was long overdue. Finished, it's expected to make travel for both passenger vehicles and commercial motor vehicles significantly smoother and safer.
"The pavement on I-20 in this area had long passed its useful service life and was riddled with patches and rough areas," Buchanan said. "The travel lanes, as well as the on and off-ramps at five interchanges, on I-20 from near Hamilton Road to Industrial Drive in Bossier City are all being completely removed down to the dirt and rebuilt in both directions. The inside lanes have all been removed and reconstructed over the course of the last year, which comprised Phase 2 of the project.
"The project also includes extensive full-depth concrete panel repair along I-20 from the Pines Road interchange to near the Red River in Shreveport. While this is not a full reconstruction, this portion of work still provides widespread improvements to the interstate corridor through Shreveport."
The primary source of funding for the project was provided by the National Highway Performance Program (NHPP) due to the project location being on an interstate. The project received 90 percent federal funds ($86.4 million) with a 10 percent state match ($31.3 million) at the time of bidding, Buchanan said.
Crews have shifted from Phase 2 to Phase 3, the final phase. Traffic will be put onto the newly constructed travel lanes so the contractor can proceed with demolishing the old outside lanes and begin the process of rebuilding those, Buchanan said.
And that should be good news for the drivers of those 18-wheelers who, though not taken far out of their way, were nonetheless not pleased to discover their rigs were prohibited.
"I think that they just have not encountered signs that say ‘Interstate, closed to trucks' before," Buchanan said. "I think they were a little surprised at that. We were surprised. But, you know, it's like with any kind of unforeseen construction or roadway issue, you have to kind of pivot. And so, while we did not foresee having to prohibit an interstate highway to 18-wheelers, which is kind of like their land and their exact time, it's what we had to do for the safety of everybody.
"But now, the contractors are in the process of constructing the outside lanes, so there may be a point where we can pull those barriers out wide enough ... that the prohibition won't be necessary anymore."
The project is on track for the scheduled completion date of late 2025/early 2026. CEG
Lori Tobias
Lori Tobias is a career journalist, formerly on staff as the Oregon Coast reporter at The Oregonian and as a columnist and features writer at the Rocky Mountain News. She is the author of the memoir, Storm Beat - A Journalist Reports from the Oregon Coast, and the novel Wander, winner of the Nancy Pearl Literary Award in 2017. She has freelanced for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Denver Post, Alaska Airlines in-flight, Natural Home, Spotlight Germany, Vegetarian Times and the Miami Herald. She is an avid reader, enjoys kayaking, traveling and exploring the Oregon Coast where she lives with her husband Chan and rescue pups, Gus and Lily.
Read more from Lori Tobias here.
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