I-10 widening from Highland Road to LA. 73
State Proj. No.:
H.009250
Start date:
February 2018
Cost:
$72 million
Contractor:
James Construction
 |
Map It |
The DOTD I-10 widening project will widen I-10 from four lanes to six lanes between Highland Road and La. 73. This 6.5-mile segment of the interstate carries more than 95,000 vehicles a day, according to a 2016 traffic count. That traffic volume represents nearly a 20 percent increase from the 2013 traffic count.
Construction on the project began in February 2018 and is expected to take about two years to complete.
This east-west corridor is frequently congested during morning and afternoon commutes by people traveling between Baton Rouge and the rapidly growing suburban areas of northern Ascension Parish. This portion of I-10 also is part of the main route between Baton Rouge and New Orleans and is one of the busiest surface freight routes in Louisiana.
Three bridges will be affected by the project. DOTD will rebuild the I-10 overpass above Highland Road, removing the existing two bridges and replacing them with one large overpass with three 12-foot travel lanes in each direction. The new bridge also will feature 10-foot outside shoulders and 19-foot inside shoulders, separated by a two-foot barrier.
The I-10 eastbound and westbound bridges over Bayou Manchac at the East Baton Rouge/Ascension parish line will be widened to the inside, creating three 12-foot travel lanes in each direction, 10-foot outside shoulders and 14-foot inside shoulders.
The bridge that carries La. 928, known locally as Bluff Road, over I-10 will be closed over the summer to replace a main girder and raise the bridge approximately nine inches to comply with federal updated interstate standards. DOTD will close the bridge from late May 2018 to early August 2018 to coincide with the summer school vacation. Detour routes will be posted prominently during the closure.
The project is being constructed under an innovative process called design-build, which can cut the cost of large transportation projects and allow swifter completion. Under design-build, a construction contractor and engineer-designer join forces to work concurrently on design and construction plans. This is different than the traditional design-bid-build process, in which an engineering team designs the contract, the owner bids out the construction work and a contractor builds the project.
|