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Nightly lane closures to begin January in preparation for I-10 widening project
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BATON ROUGE - We're days away from the new year and while many are making resolutions, DOTD is preparing for a massive year filled with projects along I-10.
Next month, there will be nightly lane closures on I-10 between Washington Street and Acadian Thruway so construction crews can start moving in and installing concrete barriers along the shoulder.
"In early 2023, the contractors are going to start to lay down yards on construction sites where they're going to store the materials as they get ready for full-blown construction," Rodney Mallett with DOTD said. "They're going to start test-driving some piles, as well."
It's still unclear how long those nightly lane closures will be in effect.
In 2024, I-10 will be closed down to two lanes in each direction for construction to officially begin from Washington to Acadian.
Mallett says this widening project has been a long time coming, and much needed for Baton Rouge with the constant traffic the city deals with on a daily basis.
One main issue we see is where I-10 goes down to one lane at Washington Street, which the widening project will address.
"In a year and a half when we're done, it's four lanes all the way through," Mallett said. "There's going to be two lanes coming off of the bridge, all the way through, and there will be four lanes from where that merge is at I-10 and 110 all the way to Acadian, and the same thing with Acadian going west."
"We're going to have signature bridges, were going to have enhanced lighting, parking, bike trails, and other amenities that Baton Rouge needs."
Construction on the interstate will begin in 2024. DOTD hopes to have this portion of the widening project completed by 2027.
More information on the project can be found on their website, https://i10br.com/.
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