WBRZ - Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE - The Department of Transportation and Development announced plans to add an exit on Interstate 12 at Essen Lane.

State engineers call it a flyover ramp that will feed southbound Essen Lane. Traffic will exit a ramp that would be built above the existing Essen overpass. It would then cross back over the interstate before connecting with new lanes.

The project adds a third lane southbound on Essen all the way to Interstate Ten.

The flyover ramp could look a lot like the exit that connects I-12 to I-10.

DOTD said studies show Drusilla Lane gets swamped with traffic daily, and Jefferson Highway and Essen stack up as a result.

The state calls Essen a critical medical corridor, and the project will help response times for EMS, fire and police.