BATON ROUGE - Like an early Christmas present from the Grinch, Louisiana traffic monitors issued a warning to drivers Monday to expect higher than normal delays for the evening rush.

Around lunch time, traffic started building on I-10 eastbound between downtown Baton Rouge. At one point, congestion had reached to nearly Iberville Parish.

Early issues coupled with the rain should make for a slow and ugly drive home. "Expect heavier than normal delays on I-10, I-110, and I-12 in the Baton Rouge area until approximately 7:00 p.m.," the Traffic Management Center advised around 3 p.m. - an hour before the typical even commute begins.

Baton Rouge Police anticipate heavy congestion through the week and into the weekend as people head home from Christmas destinations. Similar to what police did for Thanksgiving weekend, extra patrols will be added to the interstate system to help keep the flow moving.

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