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Why a new highway – I-69 and Sections
of Independent Utility
In the Intermodal Surface
Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), Congress designated
certain highway corridors of national significance be included in
the National Highway System. Twenty-one "high-priority"
corridors were so designated, mainly in regions that are not well
served by the existing Interstate Highway System. The Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) combined two of
these corridors (Corridor 18 and Corridor 20) and officially designated them as
Interstate 69 (I-69).
Interstate 69 is a 1,600
mile-long national highway that will ultimately connect Canada to
Mexico. I-69 traverses nine states from the Gulf of Mexico and Texas’s
Golden Triangle, through the Mississippi Delta, the Midwest, to the
industrial north and, finally, to Canada. The I-69
Corridor refers to the general
location of the highway as defined by legislation with the
stipulation that specific route locations must be determined through
additional route location and environmental screening processes.
The purpose of the I-69
Corridor is to improve
international and interstate trade in accordance with national and
state goals; facilitate economic development in accordance with
state, regional, and local policies; and extend the Interstate
Highway System consistent with national, state, regional, and local
needs.
With a total length of
over 1,600 miles, I-69 will take many years to complete. This length
precludes development of the full corridor as a single construction
project. Furthermore, the work to be undertaken varies along the
route and includes widening, reconstruction, and relocation of
existing roadways to development of an entirely new highway on new
location.
The practical approach is
to undertake a series of projects which all fit into and are
consistent with the overall purpose and need for I-69. In order to
approach this in a reasonable manner, the entire corridor was
divided into viable sections, each addressing state and local
needs, schedules and funding constraints. Each of these sections is
referred to as a Section of Independent Utility (SIU). A given SIU may
be in place for several years before an adjacent section is
completed and open to traffic. Hence the concept of having
independent utility.
Section of Independent Utility 15 (SIU
15)
The Louisiana Department
of Transportation and Development (DOTD), in cooperation with the
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is conducting an
environmental and location study to construct a section of the I–69,
known nationally as SIU 15. The project would provide a divided,
four-lane, limited access highway on new location between US Highway
171 (US 171) near the Town of Stonewall in DeSoto Parish, and
Interstate Highway 20 (I–20) near the Town of Haughton in Bossier
Parish, a distance of approximately 35 miles. The project Study
Area encompasses portions of
Bossier, Caddo, and DeSoto Parishes.
The DOTD has retained a Consultant
Team lead by Michael Baker Jr.,
Inc. (Baker) to conduct this study.
Study
Process
Social,
economic, environmental, and engineering studies are being conducted
to identify the proposed highway location. A multi-step Study
Process adopted for the project
allows for the examination of a full range of alternatives at both
the corridor and alignment levels, with increasing detail as the
study progresses. This enables alternatives to be evaluated at
several stages so that only the most practicable, those that meet
the project purpose and need and that have the potential to minimize
environmental impacts, are advanced for further study.
Public
outreach meetings will be held throughout the Study
Process to inform the public of
project developments and to solicit public comment. An Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS), fully disclosing the project's beneficial and
adverse effects will be prepared and circulated for public review.
Two public hearings will also be held to present the EIS.
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