Interstate 10 in Louisiana
Interstate 10, a major transcontinental Interstate Highway in the Southern United States, runs across the southern part of Louisiana for. It passes through Lake Charles, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge before dipping south of Lake Pontchartrain to serve the New Orleans metropolitan area before leaving the state.
On August 29, 2005, the I-10 Twin Span Bridge was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina, rendering it unusable. Initially, the bridge was repaired through a $30.9 million contract with Boh Brothers Construction Company. However, Louisiana has since replaced the bridge with two higher elevation spans in 2009 and 2010.
Route description
From Texas to Lafayette, I-10 parallels the older US Highway 90 corridor. From Lafayette, the highway heads east-northeast toward Baton Rouge via the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway, an bridge across the Atchafalaya River and its accompanying swamp. Between the two cities, I-10 parallels US 190, from Opelousas to Baton Rouge. This route has signs and is designated as an alternate I-10 by-pass that runs from I-10/I-49 north to US 190 then east across to Baton Rouge and back down to I-10 via I-110 south. Traffic can be diverted both ways along this route should there be the necessity to close I-10 across the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway and is also used as a hurricane evacuation route.In the capital of Baton Rouge, US 190 continues east alongside I-12 to Hammond and Slidell while I-10 turns southeastward and parallels U.S. Route 61 to New Orleans. In the Crescent City, I-10 rejoins US 90 as it heads toward Slidell. In Slidell, US 11 continues northeastward toward Hattiesburg, Mississippi while I-10 and US 90 turn eastward toward coastal Mississippi.
Major bridges on I-10 in Louisiana include the Sabine River Bridge, the Lake Charles I-10 Bridge, the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway, the Horace Wilkinson Bridge over the Mississippi River, the Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge, the Industrial Canal Bridge, Frank Davis "Naturally N'Awlins" Memorial Bridge, and the Pearl River Bridge.
History
Future
On April 8, 2017, Louisiana DOTD broke ground on the reconstruction of of I-10 between I-49 and the Atchafalaya Basin. A center concrete barrier will be constructed, road repaved, and an extra travel lane will be constructed, making I-10 three lanes in each direction. Construction began May 2017 and will last two years.There are also calls to remove I-10 from the Claiborne Expressway in New Orleans and rename I-610 to I-10. The entire length of the Pontchartrain Expressway would likely be renamed as I-910 or I-49.
Exit list
Auxiliary routes
- Interstate 110 is a spur northward through downtown Baton Rouge toward the northern part of the city. It was not in the original plans, but was added in the 1960s to replace the cancelled Interstate 410.
- Interstate 210 is a bypass around the south side of Lake Charles. It was added in 1962.
- Interstate 310 is a spur from I-10 west of New Orleans south to U.S. Highway 90. It was part of a longer Interstate 410 from 1969 to 1977.
- * A previous Interstate 310 was added in 1964 and cancelled in 1969. It would have run from I-10 east of downtown New Orleans south and southwest through the French Quarter to the Greater New Orleans Bridge.
- The first Interstate 410 was a northern bypass of Baton Rouge along the Airline Highway corridor. It was added in September 1955 and removed by the late 1960s.
- * The second Interstate 410 was defined in 1969 as a southern bypass of New Orleans, as a sort of replacement for the cancelled Interstate 310. The southern section of I-410 was cancelled in 1977, and the west and east legs became Interstate 310 and Interstate 510, respectively.
- Interstate 510 is a spur from I-10 in eastern New Orleans south to the Paris Road Bridge over the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway/. It was part of a longer Interstate 410 from 1969 to 1977.
- Interstate 610 is a bypass for through traffic north of downtown New Orleans. It was added in September 1955.
- Interstate 910 is a piece of future Interstate 49 from downtown New Orleans south and west to Marrero. The temporary designation was assigned by the Federal Highway Administration and American Association of State Highway Officials in 1999, but is not signed and has not been accepted by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.