LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – Louisiana Avenue near Interstate 10 has seen a lot of development in recent years. It was accomplished, in part, because of a special sales tax district using a TIF or tax increment financing.

The one cent sales tax pays for infrastructure improvements. It paved the way for the Target shopping center which sits at Louisiana Avenue and I-10.

“It’s been a huge,” said Lafayette Consolidated Government Public Works Director Mark Dubroc. “I think an incentive for people to move to that part of town, and perhaps spread the growth from the Southside that’s so prevalent.”

Louisiana Avenue currently ends at East Butcher Switch Road. But that will soon change. A four-lane boulevard will run from East Butcher Switch to East Gloria Switch Road.

“The extension is through open land, this is not an existing route,” Dubroc said.

Extending Louisiana Avenue will be a $5 million project.

Dubroc said it’s being extended because of the expected future growth in the area.

“Interconnected traffic,” Dubroc explained. “Create these arterial streets that become your primary carriers and theoretically you end up with something that resembles a grid.”

University Avenue and Moss Street are other important north-south arteries in the city.

LCG crews will begin relocating utilities in the project area by the end of the year.

Work on extending Louisiana Avenue should start in the middle of 2018. The project will take about two years to complete.

Dubroc said there are also plans to eventually expand Ambassador Caffery Parkway north past Interstate 10. Right now it ends at Renaud Drive. He said the DOTD is currently studying that.