LAFAYETTE, LA (AP) — The public has until Jan. 17 to comment on a proposed widening of a portion of Interstate 10 between Lafayette and St. Martin parishes.
The Advertiser’s Jessica Goff reports the State Department of Transportation and Development held an open house and a public meeting in Carencro on Tuesday to unveil the project that is expected to break ground in fall of 2016.
The two-year plan will widen the interstate from the east junction with I-49 to the Breaux Bridge exit. One additional lane would also be added within the existing median and a concrete median barrier would be installed. The project would include replacement of the pavement within the existing the lanes.
DOTD spokeswoman Deidra Lockhart said the plan is estimated to cost between $100 million and $125 million.
"That will come from a mixture of federal and state funding," she said. Tuesday's open house aimed to give the public a chance to comment on the proposal and get information on how and when it will be carried out, Lockhart said.
"We are looking at a minimum timeline of two years to do this," she said. "With a project of this magnitude, we definitely want to make sure we are giving the residents and the folks in this area who travel along this particular corridor an opportunity to come in and get information about what's going to take place."
Two lanes of traffic in both directions of the interstate will be open during construction, the DOTD said. The department estimates that 74,591 vehicles will travel though the I-10 at I-49 junction daily this year. That number will jump to 110,839 vehicles per day in 2035, according to the DOTD.
The project is one of three proposed plans to widen portions of I-10 toward the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge.
