Kansas Lane Extension Nears Completion

MONROE, La (KTVE/KARD) — A City of Monroe infrastructure project is almost ready to be open for the public, and as it nears completion, folks are excited about the new roadway. NBC News 10’s Joel Massey shows us the new work and the plans for the future.

The first phase of the Kansas Lane Extension is set to be ready soon, and it marks the beginning of the first of three phases, which will lengthen Kansas Lane by more than two miles.

You will soon be able to travel from this intersection at Highway 165 to Old Sterlington Road. In the next two years, from Old Sterlington through the Cypress Point Subdivision, the groundwork has already been laid.

The city broke ground in April of 2023 on the 18-million-dollar project after first being proposed in 1975. It’s taken this long to secure the funding.

Erin Bucannon with the Department of Transportation and Development tells us how the city was able to get the federal dollars.

“Funding is a lot more complex than a lot of people realize. I think also involved in this are some road transfer credits that the City of Monroe was able to utilize toward this. And that would mean that they received credits previously on roadways that they took into their inventory from the state system. And so what happens is that’s a benefit to the locals because they can use those credits on future projects however they would like.”

DOTD says that the roadway conditions in the area were rated at a Level of Service F, meaning that the roads are congested, causing more crashes and slower response times for emergency vehicles.

“The public doesn’t care it it’s a state highway of a public road. They care how long am I waiting in this congestion? Is this roadway wide enough to handle the traffic flow? Does it make sense where the roadway is placed?”

Mayor Friday Ellis says he is pleased with the work so far and is excited about the state project set to begin around January 2026

“It builds upon the new interchange there at I-20 that has the roundabout that mitigates that rail crossing there so if you are trying to make your flight at the airport you can jump on it and hit a roundabout and go over the railroad track and hit the airport.”

Once all the projects are completed there will be in effect a loop around some of the most congested roadways in the city.

Kansas Lane Extension Phase II from U.S. 80 to Bon Air is estimated to cost $26 million, a combination of federal and local funds.

Phase III, the railway overpass, is in very early development with no cost estimate or letting (bid) date.