Planned I-10 widening will involve replacing elevated highway through Baton Rouge

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Though final plans for widening the roughly 3.5-mile stretch of interstate won’t be released for several months, what is known is that the project is massive, comprehensive and ambitious. Not only is the state planning to add a new lane in each direction of I-10, which will involve changing, closing and relocating several existing interchanges; it also intends to replace the entire elevated portion of the interstate.

Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Shawn Wilson says the 60-year-old structure is nearing the end of its life and will need to be replaced within 15 years anyway, so it only makes sense to do it now while adding a third lane in each direction.

The work will be done in phases that are projected to take between five and seven years. The first phase will begin at the base of the Mississippi River Bridge and work east to the City Park Lakes. The second phase will involve replacing the highway over the lakes. The third phase will extend from the lakes over the Perkins Road Overpass neighborhood past S. Acadian Thruway to College Drive, and the final phase will tie in a flyover ramp from College Drive to the I-10/I-12 split.

“Folks hear seven years and think, ‘Gee, my business will be in a difficult environment for seven years,’” Wilson says. “In reality, it might be a year and a half, and it might only be a month or so that you hear and see structure being pulled away and things being brought in and out on the structure. … When you build bridges these days there are a lot of things you can do offsite, so it’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle and is less invasive than you might think.”

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