The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) will hold a public meeting for a project that will widen I-12 in St. Tammany Parish from the I-10/I-12/I-59 interchange to just west of the Vincent’s Bayou Bridge.

A meeting in Slidell will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 9 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Clearwood Junior High School, 130 Clearwood Drive.

This meeting will allow the public to learn more about the project and to sign-up to receive periodic e-mail updates on the project’s progression. Representatives from DOTD and James Construction LLC will be in attendance to provide information on the project and answer any questions.

Work on the $25.7 million project will widen the interstate from two lanes to three lanes in each direction. In addition, the I-12 eastbound off-ramp to Northshore Boulevard will be widened from one to two lanes, and a deceleration lane will be added at the I-12 westbound off-ramp to Airport Road.

Four lanes of traffic – two lanes eastbound and two lanes westbound – will remain open during peak travel times. Lane closures will only occur at night or on weekends during off-peak travel times and with DOTD approval.

The new lanes and widened off-ramps will provide much-needed relief from congestion and improve safety for the more than 70,000 drivers using this section of I-12 each day.

The contractor has begun pre-construction activities, including working on the construction layout and driving test piles. Work to construct the new lanes will begin in March.

For questions or to sign up to receive periodic e-mail updates about the project, contact DOTD’s Customer Service Center at 1-877-4LA-DOTD (1-877-452-3683) or by e-mail at [email protected]. The center is open 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Learn more about the job by visiting the project’s Web page at www.dotd.la.gov. Click on "Projects" from the "Programs & Projects" section of the main menu on the left-hand side of the page and select the "I-12 Widening St. Tammany" link.

You can also follow the I-12 Widening Project on Facebook. Once you open a Facebook account, project information can be accessed by entering "Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development" or "I-12 Widening in St. Tammany" into the search field.