Interstate 10 in Louisiana

From Texas to Lafayette, I-10 parallels the older US Highway 90 (US 90) corridor. From Lafayette, the highway heads east-northeast toward Baton Rouge via the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway, an 18.2-mile (29.3 km) 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 (exit 19B at Opelousas) 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.

I-10 running west of New Orleans, spanning the Bonnet Carre Spillway at Lake Pontchartrain

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 (Airline Highway) to New Orleans. In the Crescent City, I-10 rejoins US 90 (and later US 11) 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 (c. 1952, replaced 2003), the Lake Charles I-10 Bridge (1952), the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway (1973), the Horace Wilkinson Bridge over the Mississippi River (1968), the Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge (c. 1972), the Industrial Canal Bridge (c. 1960), Frank Davis "Naturally N'Awlins" Memorial Bridge (1965, replaced 2010), and the Pearl River Bridge (c. 1970).

I-10 eastbound passing over Lake Charles/Calcasieu River near Lake Charles

Until around 1960, I-10 and I-59 would have split near the present [I-510 interchange in eastern New Orleans.

By the beginning of planning for the Interstate Highway System in 1939 (then called the Interregional Highway System), the Houston-New Orleans-Mobile corridor was part of the system. Preliminary plans took it along US 90 all the way through Louisiana, serving Lake Charles and Lafayette but not Baton Rouge.[4] By c. 1943, it had been shifted to the north west of New Orleans, using the Louisiana Highway 12 (LA 12), US 190 and US 61 corridors, and serving Baton Rouge but not Lake Charles or Lafayette.[5] The 1947 plan shifted it to roughly the current alignment, including the long stretch of new corridor across the Atchafalaya Swamp.[6] The corridor was assigned the I-10 designation in mid-1957.[7]

Prior to the gaining of federal funding for the Interstate System in the late 1950s, a toll road, the Acadian Thruway, had been proposed between Lafayette and a point near Gramercy on Airline Highway (US 61). This would have provided a shorter route than I-10, bypassing Baton Rouge to the south. The Gramercy Bridge was later built along its planned alignment, with LA 3125 connecting to Gramercy, but no road extends west from the bridge across the Atchafalaya Swamp to Lafayette.

Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway in Iberville Parish

Interchange between I-10, I-12, and I-59 in Slidell

I-12, serving as a bypass of New Orleans around the north side of Lake Pontchartrain, was not added until October 17, 1957. At the time, I-10 and Interstate 59 split in eastern New Orleans, with I-59 following present I-10 and I-10 following the US 90 corridor into Mississippi, and so I-12 only ran to I-59 north of Slidell.[8] By the mid-1960s, the routes had been realigned to their current configuration, with I-12 and I-59 both ending at I-10 near Slidell.[9]

Construction of the Interstate Highway System in Louisiana began in 1957.[10] Early I-10 contracts were done under the route designation LA 3027. Much of the early construction on the I-10 corridor was concentrated on relieving traffic problems in urban centers. Several such projects were already underway and were incorporated into the route of I-10 during construction, such as the Pontchartrain Expressway in New Orleans. In addition, the two major bridges on the route in Calcasieu Parish between the Texas state line and Lake Charles were built for US 90 in the early 1950s and retrofitted for I-10 traffic. Sections of I-10 through rural areas and/or those sections already served adequately by existing highways, such as Airline Highway (US 61) between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, were constructed later in the program. By the spring of 1975, the entire route of I-10 had been opened across Louisiana except for a problem 5.5 mile section between Gonzales and Sorrento that was not completed for another three years.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the I-10 Twin Span Bridge, a portion of I-10 between New Orleans and Slidell, spanning the eastern end of Lake Pontchartrain, was severely damaged, causing a break in I-10 at that point. Unlike the Escambia Bay Bridge (east of Pensacola, Florida and damaged by Hurricane Ivan) which is a major artery, I-12 is available to bypass New Orleans. Taking I-12 to the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway allowed entry and exit to and from the Greater New Orleans area from the East. On October 14, 2005 at 3:00 PM, the eastbound span was reopened to two way traffic. On January 6, 2006 at 6:00 AM, both lanes of the westbound span were reopened to traffic using temporary metal trusses and road panels to replace damaged sections.[50] This restored all four lanes of the I-10 Twin Span for normal traffic with a 45 mph (70 km/h) speed limit for the westbound lanes and 60 mph (100 km/h) for the eastbound lanes. Oversized and overweight traffic was prohibited until a new permanent six-lane span replaced the two temporarily repaired spans. The eastbound span opened to traffic on July 9, 2009, and the westbound span opened on April 7, 2010, with the old bridge being permanently closed.[51][52][53][54] The approaches to the westbound lanes were completed with a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 8, 2011 and the opening of all 6 lanes the next morning.[55] The old Twin Span will be demolished in the near future.[56] In 2014, the Louisiana State Legislature officially named the Twin Span as the Frank Davis "Naturally N'Awlins" Memorial Bridge.[57]

A S68.9 million, three-year construction project was completed between Causeway Boulevard and the 17th Street Canal in Metairie, Louisiana. It added new lanes in both directions and improve the exit and entrance ramps at Causeway and Bonnabel Blvd.

In 2012, the state completed a widening project between Causeway and Clearview Pkwy and between the I-10/I-610 split and Airline Highway (US 61).[58] In 2015, the additional lanes were extended in Metairie, from Clearview Pkwy west to Veterans Blvd.

I-10 was widened to three lanes in each direction from the I-10/I-12 split to Highland Road (Exit 166) from late 2008 to Spring 2013.

On April 8, 2017, Louisiana DOTD broke ground on the reconstruction of seven miles (11 km) of I-10 between I-49 (Exit 103) 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.[59]

There are also calls to remove I-10 from the Claiborne Expressway in New Orleans and rename I-610 to I-10.[60] The entire length of the Pontchartrain Expressway would likely be renamed as I-910 or I-49.

Interstate 10 crossing the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge over the Horace Wilkinson Bridge

• 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.[61]
• Interstate 310 is a spur from I-10 west of New Orleans south to U.S. Highway 90 (future Interstate 49). It was part of a longer Interstate 410 from 1969 to 1977.[62]
  • 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.[62]
• The first Interstate 410 was a northern bypass of Baton Rouge along the Airline Highway (U.S. Highway 61/190) corridor. It was added in September 1955[61] 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.[62]
• Interstate 510 is a spur from I-10 in eastern New Orleans south to the Paris Road Bridge over the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway/(Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal). It was part of a longer Interstate 410 from 1969 to 1977.[62]
• Interstate 610 is a bypass for through traffic north of downtown New Orleans. It was added in September 1955.[61]
• 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.

•  U.S. Roads portal
• Airline Highway

• Media related to Interstate 10 in Louisiana at Wikimedia Commons

Interstate 10
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