RUSTON, La. (KNOE) – The City of Ruston is getting quite the makeover. On Aug. 17, the city broke ground on a new infrastructure project connected to Louisiana Tech University and funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The Monroe Street Corridor Project is expected to transform the downtown Ruston and La. Tech experience.
“We are going to be able to tie downtown to the center of campus,” said Mayor Ronny Walker. “You really won’t know when you walk from the campus to downtown or downtown to the campus because it will all look the same. It will have the same feel.” Walker hopes the project, funded by a $17 million federal grant, helps transform Ruston from a town with a college to a proper “college town.”
“And it connects downtown to Lousiana Tech, both of which support each other,” said U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who was in the area promoting a bipartisan infrastructure bill.
The project is expected to be completed in three years, and Walker hopes it will help improve the quality of life in Ruston.
“It’ll be a two-lane road,” said Walker. “It will have an eight-foot bike trail, running trail, walking trail, whatever you want to call it on one side. It will have a five-foot sidewalk on the other.”
The project also has some elements that could be very useful in the future.
“It will also have an autonomous vehicle lane so that as Tech starts getting more into autonomous vehicles, those lanes will already be there,” said Walker.
The hope is that the project will allow Ruston to attract more businesses to the city. However, they already have a few things lined up.
“We hope in the next 60 days to make a couple of big announcements,” said Walker. “One of them will be employing 200 people. Another one about 100 people. That’s kind of our sweet spot.”
In a news release, the project was described as being “composed of seven interconnected multimodal infrastructure components that will increase the efficiency and safety between Louisiana Tech, the Enterprise Campus, downtown Ruston and Interstate 20. The city estimates a net public benefit of $3.48 for every $1 invested.”
Senator Cassidy told the audience his bipartisan infrastructure bill would simply mean more projects like this one.
“Now, the good news is if we pass this infrastructure bill, it gives substantially more money for these grants,” said Cassidy.
That bill was passed by the Senate and is currently awaiting action in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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