BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana has picked a contractor to handle the first phase of a new Interstate 10 project in the Baton Rouge area that will expand the regularly traffic-snarled roadway.
Construction on the I-10 widening between LA 415 in West Baton Rouge Parish and the split with Interstate 12 is set to start in late 2022 and take at least six years to complete.
“This is a historic development for the progress and growth of Baton Rouge, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the initial construction of the interstate system,” Shawn Wilson, state transportation secretary, said in a statement.
The Advocate reports the work will be done by Kiewit/Boh, one of three firms that submitted qualifications to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. The widening project is being financed with borrowing through a bond sale, with the state repaying the bonds with a portion of its annual allocation of federal transportation aid.
Initial work carries a price tag of $716 million, without some parts of the full project included.
In a statement, Gov. John Bel Edwards called the interstate widening “critical to reducing congestion, fostering economic development and enhancing the qualify of life of those living and working in the vicinity of the project.”
The interstate corridor was built in the 1960s to handle around 80,000 cars and trucks per day. But more than twice that number rely on that section of interstate daily, making it the site of regular gridlock. More than 200,000 vehicles per day will be using the corridor by 2032, according to state estimates.
Edwards first announced the interstate project borrowing plans in January 2018, after efforts to raise the state’s gas tax for road projects failed. Wilson said the interstate widening will be done in phases, to try to minimize the impact on travelers.
The first part of the work includes the reconstruction of I-10 and the addition of one lane in each direction.
