ALEXANDRIA – DOTD, in conjunction with the city of Alexandria, hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, May 20 at the corner of Murray and Martin Luther King Drive, under the I-49 overpass to celebrate the completion of the I-49 Greenbelt Project. DOTD Deputy Secretary, Blaise Carriere, joined other area officials for the event, which marked the conclusion of the more than $2.6 million project, funded by DOTD, FHWA, and the City of Alexandria. 

Edward Randolph, Mayor of Alexandria, served as the master of ceremonies for the event.

Among other things, completion of this enhancement project provides a loop extension to an existing completed trail system in the Riverfront Park along the Red River and provides connections to neighborhoods located outside of the downtown area.

Coushatta Empire, Inc., of Oakdale was awarded the contract for the project which included erosion control and drainage improvements, almost two miles of bike/walking paths, 145 overhead pole-mounted lights spaced throughout the length of the trail, and extensive landscaping of downtown Alexandria with hundreds of trees and thousands of shrubs and plants.  The DOTD Project Engineer was Wayne Vollman.

In addition to DOTD’s Carriere, remarks were given by Federal Highway Administration Assistant Division Administrator, Joe Bloise; Alexandria Mayor, Edward Randolph; and Councilman Louis Marshall.