Traffic Nightmare in Bossier; Barksdale Gate Closed For a Week

It was around 7:30 this morning when our Traffic Hotline began to blow up about an issue that most of us knew nothing about until it was too late.

The North Gate of Barksdale Air Force Base is closed and apparently will stay closed until next Monday, November 15. This caused major traffic jams all morning anywhere around the base.

Motorists reported that traffic around the North Gate was backed up all the way to Airline Drive and that even though the West Gate is open, there was such a high volume of people trying to get through that gate, that traffic on Shreveport/Barksdale Highway was backed up to near Youree Drive.

Apparently, we're in for a full week of this. Thank you to our friend, Julie Reeves, who sent me the following schedule that Barksdale released regarding the closure.

Barksdale Gate Hours Through November 15

• West Gate - Open 24 hours each day
• North Gate - CLOSED
• Bodcau (Monday through Sunday) - Open 5:45 am until 10:00 pm
• Industrial (Monday through Friday) - COMMERCIAL VEHICLES ONLY - 5:45 am through 6:00 pm

So, if you happen to work on the base or anywhere around any of the gates, especially the Shreve City area near the West Gate, that will be open, you should obviously make plans to leave early and be prepared for longer than usual waits.