I-69 Expected to Benefit NW Louisiana

SHREVEPORT, La. -- The completion of Interstate 69, which will provide a direct route from Canada to Mexico through Shreveport-Bossier City, is expected to boost benefits to the region from the North American Free Trade Agreement, business leaders say.

The two cities could become a major distribution center, said Mike Gibson, executive director of the Northwest Louisiana Chapter of Associated General Contractors.

"It will open the whole country to new trade possibilities, and the traffic will come right through Shreveport," Gibson said.

The highway, expected to be built from Port Huron, Mich., to Laredo, Texas, has three possible routes through Shreveport-Bossier City. Congress has approved the concept of a NAFTA highway and has agreed to speed up its construction.

This means Congress will appropriate enough funds each year to finish the interstate by 2010 - 10 years after it is started, said John D. Caruthers, a Shreveport petroleum producer and chairman of the I-69 Mid-Continent Coalition.

The coalition is made up of representatives from the seven states through which the highway will pass.

So far, though, Congress has not allocated money for the highway.

Since Nafta took effect on Jan. 1, 1994, U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico has grown by about 42 percent. Louisiana's trade with the two countries has increased by about 50 percent.

Some companies with Shreveport-Bossier City local operations have already seen increases in their business.

Almost 5 percent of USA Truck Inc.'s business, for example, now comes from trade with Mexico. That company and Kansas City Southern Railway have added a combined 200 jobs in Shreveport because of increased business.

"The interstate will go through some of the major population areas in the heartland of the country," Caruthers said. "That will give Shreveport-Bossier direct access to those markets as well as to Canada and Mexico."

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