In the coming months, Baton Rouge drivers will be seeing more highway crews along Interstate 10, from its split with I-12 to right before the Dalrymple exit, but the work isn’t expected to hamper traffic flow, as the massive I-10 reconstruction and widening project continues, the state Department of Transportation and Development said Thursday.
The work crews will be testing the foundations of the interstate, in order to gather information for roadway design work, as well as surveying, the DOTD said.
This part of the interstate widening project, which saw construction begin this year, is expected to continue into early next year, the state agency said.
“There should not be any significant impact on traffic flow from these activities,” DOTD said.
At some point in 2024, however, the number of lanes in each direction of the interstate will be temporarily trimmed from three to two; that change is expected to last at least a year depending on the weather, Shawn Wilson, secretary for the state Department of Transportation and Development, has said.
The contractor for the $872 million interstate-widening project is Kiewit/Boh, a joint venture of Kiewit Infrastructure South of Westlake, Texas, and Boh Bros. Construction of New Orleans.
Last month, the contractor began negotiations with the East Baton Rouge Parish school system for the lease of school board property for a long-term staging area for the project.
The site the company is looking at is on the edge of the Baton Rouge Foreign Language Academic Immersion Magnet school campus on Bawell Street, with property that stretches from Bawell to I-10.
Planning for the interstate widening project began in 2015. When it’s completed in 2028, I-10 will have an additional lane in each direction from La. 415 in West Baton Rouge Parish to the I-10/I-12 split.
There will be a revamped exit at College Drive for westbound drivers and a new bridge over the City Park Lake, as well.
Leave a Reply