Concrete work on the northernmost section of Interstate 49 in Louisiana should begin next month, the head of Louisiana's highway department said today.

Department of Transportation and Development Secretary William Anker gave an update on the I-49 extension to members of the I-49 Coalition in Shreveport today. The concrete work will start around the Arkansas state line, he said. A completion date for the stretch from Shreveport to Arkansas is not set.

DOTD officials conceded progress is slow. Contractors have been doing clearing and dirt work.

"You're talking about carving out an area in the woods where there was no road, and building it to interstate standards. It's a process," DOTD spokesman Mark Lambert said.

I-49 currently stops at Shreveport. A section of connecting interstate highway is finished between Doddridge, Ark., and Texarkana.