BATON ROUGE – Work should begin in May on a new I-10 overpass at Pecue Lane, state and local transportation officials said Monday. It’s part of a larger project to widen Pecue between Perkins Road and Airline Highway from two to four lanes, and connect it to the interstate.

A wider bridge will be built just to the south of the existing bridge with work expected to last about a year and a half. East Baton Rouge Parish Transportation and Drainage Director Fred Raiford said Monday he insisted the existing bridge across the interstate remain open until the new one is complete.

Raiford estimated 10,000 vehicles use the Pecue Lane overpass daily. He said he didn’t want residents and commuters to detour around construction like drivers in Ascension Parish had to do last summer when the Bluff Road interstate overpass was closed for an upgrade.

When connected to the interstate, the Pecue Lane interchange will be the first “diverging diamond” in Louisiana. The design briefly puts drivers in the opposite lane as they cross the bridge, reducing the number of left-turn conflicts on the interchange that cause congestion.

Raiford said the entire project could be completed in three and half years.