Getting around Shreveport-Bossier without losing your mind

The big three

• I-20 runs east and west through both cities. East takes you through Bossier City toward Haughton and Minden; west takes you through Shreveport toward Greenwood and Texas. Rush hour near the river crossing is the area’s most famous slowdown.
• I-220 is the northern loop. It ties I-20 on the east side of Bossier City to I-20 on the west side of Shreveport and passes close to Barksdale. It’s often the calmer way across.
• I-49 starts in Shreveport and runs south toward Natchitoches and Lafayette. The northern part heads up toward Texarkana.

The local roads that matter

• The Inner Loop (LA 3132) in south Shreveport links I-20 and I-49 and makes the south side a lot easier to get around.
• Youree Drive is south Shreveport’s main shopping road. Pretty much everyone ends up on it eventually.
• The Jimmie Davis Bridge crosses the river in the south part of town, a useful alternative to the downtown crossings.
• Airline Drive and Benton Road are Bossier City’s main north-south roads, and Arthur Ray Teague Parkway runs along the Bossier riverfront.
• Downtown bridges, including the Texas Street Bridge, light up at night and are handy for getting between the two downtowns.

How to pick a house by its drive

Before you fall in love with a kitchen, do this:

• Write down the three places you drive most: work, school, family.
• Drive from the house to each one at the hour you’d really go.
• Drive back at 5 PM. This is the step people skip and regret.
• Check which bridge you’d use. One crossing can be the difference between 15 and 35 minutes.

Vana can text you the address of an open home so you can drive it from the front door. That’s the best test there is.

Out of town

Shreveport Regional Airport is on the west side, off I-20. Dallas is about three hours west on I-20, and Natchitoches is about an hour south on I-49, which is a fine excuse for a meat pie.

Want more on each side? Read living in Shreveport, living in Bossier City and Keithville and DeSoto Parish.

We serve Caddo, Bossier, DeSoto and Webster parishes in Louisiana, plus Harrison County, Texas (Marshall and Waskom). We don’t rank schools or neighborhoods; we describe places so you can decide.

Updated October 24, 2026