
History of Interstate 10 in Louisiana
The I-10, I-12 and I-59 interchange at Slidell.
History
Before the construction of I-10, there were two east-west routes through southern Louisiana, US 90 and US 190. US 90 most closely follows the I-10 corridor, but curves south from Lafayette to go through Houma to New Orleans. US 190 goes further north than I-10. The middle section between Lafayette and Baton Rouge had no predecessor, before I-10 was built here there were no through roads in this area. US 190 ran from Opelousas to Baton Rouge via the Huey P. Long Bridge, the first and for a long time only bridge over the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge. Between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, I-10 is mostly along US 61built the famous “Airline Highway”, which was the first long four-lane highway in Louisiana. Before the construction of the Interstate Highways in 1956, this was the longest four-lane road in the United States that was not a toll road.
As early as 1939 there were plans for a highway over the Houston-New Orleans-Mobile corridor. The first plans were pretty similar over the current route, with the exception around Baton Rouge. In 1943 the plan was shifted northwards, passing Baton Rouge, but not Lafayette and Lake Charles. In 1947 the plan changed again, this time to the current route. In mid-1957, the road was planned as I-10. Interstate 12 was also added to the plans in 1957.
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Construction history
For the construction of the highway as I-10, several bridges have already been opened that later became part of I-10. In 1951 the bridge opened over the Calcasieu River in Lake Charles and in 1954 the bridge opened over the Sabine River on the Texas border. This bridge was replaced in 2003 by the current connection. Construction on I-10 began soon after the launch of the Interstate Highway program, and large portions of I-10 in Louisiana were commissioned during the 1960s. In 1960, the Industrial Canal Bridge in New Orleans opened to traffic. On December 21, 1965, the original I-10 Twin Span Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain opened to traffic. The Horace Wilkinson Bridge opened on April 10, 1968across the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge for traffic. The Pearl River Bridge on the Mississippi border opened in 1970. In 1973, the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge opened to traffic west of Baton Rouge, creating a direct road link between Lafayette and Baton Rouge for the first time.
The last sections of I-10 opened between Baton Rouge and New Orleans between 1974-1978. The Airline Highway (US 61) was already a 2×2 divided highway, so construction of the parallel I-10 here was somewhat less of a priority than elsewhere in Louisiana.
In 2005, New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Katrina, which caused a storm surge and flooded the area. The I-10 Twin Span Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain was then badly damaged and was replaced in 2009 by a new 2×3 lane bridge. During the New Orleans floods, I-10 was one of the few roads that was not flooded due to its elevated position on overpasses and embankments. The section through the Atchafalaya Swamp was closed in November 2007 after an explosion of gases from the swamp. Traffic was diverted via US 190 and US 90, causing massive congestion as it fell around the Thanksgiving holiday.
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Opening history
Texas – Baton Rouge
Van | Unpleasant | Length | Datum |
27 Westlake | 29 Lake Charles | 3 km | 28-09-1951 |
Texas state line | 7 Vinton | 11 km | 11-05-1954 |
20 Sulphur | 27 Westlake | 11 km | 16-04-1962 |
65 Jennings | 80 Crowley | 24 km | 28-03-1963 |
29 Lake Charles | 33 Lake Charles (US 171) | 6 km | 03-04-1963 |
33 Lake Charles (US 171) | 43 Iowa | 16 km | 17-02-1964 |
43 Iowa | 54 Welsh | 18 km | 09-12-1964 |
54 Welsh | 65 Jennings | 18 km | 00-00-1965 |
7 Vinton | 20 Sulphur | 21 km | 21-09-1965 |
80 Crowley | 92 Duson | 19 km | 19-12-1966 |
153 Port Allen | 155 I-110 Baton Rouge | 3 km | 10-04-1968 |
92 Duson | 103 Lafayette (US 167) | 19 km | 30-10-1968 |
151 Westover | 153 Port Allen | 3 km | 07-11-1970 |
103 Lafayette (US 167) | 139 Big Head | 58 km | 12-03-1973 |
139 Big Head | 151 Westover | 19 km | 28-03-1974 |
Baton Rouge – New Orleans – Mississippi
Van | Unpleasant | Length | Datum |
231 Airline Highway | 234 Claiborne Avenue | 5 km | 19-02-1960 |
231 I-610 New Orleans | 231 Airline Highway | 1 km | 16-02-1962 |
155 I-110 Baton Rouge | 157 Perkins Road | 3 km | 18-09-1964 |
228 Causeway Boulevard | 231 I-610 New Orleans | 5 km | 26-03-1965 |
157 Perkins Road | 158 College Drive | 2 km | 00-10-1965 |
239 Louisa Street | 240 Jourdan Road | 1 km | 21-12-1965 |
254 US 11 | 267 I-12 Slidell | 21 km | 21-12-1965 |
238 I-610 New Orleans | 239 Louisa Street | 2 km | 00-04-1966 |
240 Jourdan Road | 241 Morrison Road | 2 km | 08-12-1966 |
246 I-510 New Orleans | 254 US 11 | 13 km | 24-04-1967 |
225 Veterans Boulevard | 228 Causeway Boulevard | 5 km | 00-12-1967 |
236 St. Bernard Avenue | 238 I-610 New Orleans | 3 km | 27-02-1968 |
235 Orleans Avenue | 236 St. Bernard Avenue | 2 km | 14-03-1968 |
223 Williams Boulevard | 225 Veterans Boulevard | 3 km | 17-05-1968 |
235 Tulane Avenue | 235 Orleans Avenue | 1 km | 16-06-1969 |
267 I-12 Slidell | Mississippi State Line | 10 km | 16-02-1971 |
209 Laplace | 223 Williams Boulevard | 23 km | 17-12-1971 |
240 Morrison Road | 246 I-510 New Orleans | 10 km | 18-10-1972 |
234 Claiborne Avenue | 235 Tulane Avenue | 1 km | 08-12-1972 |
158 College Drive | 166 Highland Road | 13 km | 31-05-1974 |
166 Highland Road | 173 Gonzales | 11 km | 19-12-1974 |
187 Sorrento | 209 Laplace | 34 km | 16-04-1975 |
173 Gonzales | 187 Sorrento | 23 km | 05-05-1978 |
Arrange
I-10 near the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner.
Texas – Lake Charles
The stretch from Sulfur to the junction with I-210 west of Lake Charles was widened to 2×3 lanes in or before the 1990s. Around 2006, an 18-kilometer stretch between Vinton and Sulfur was widened to 2×3 lanes. On August 19, 2022, a short widening to 2×4 lanes west of I-210 in Lake Charles was completed. On November 17, 2020, the widening of 17 kilometers of I-10 between the Texas and Vinton border began. This project was completed in 2025. With this, I-10 had through 2×3 lanes between Beaumont, Texas and Lake Charles in Louisiana.
Lake Charles – Lafayette
In 2007, a 15-mile stretch between I-210 at Lake Charles and US 165 at Iowa was widened to 2×3 lanes.
Lafayette
Between 2016 and 2020, the portion of I-49 at Lafayette to Breaux Bridge has been widened to 2×3 lanes for 10 kilometers.
Baton Rouge
Between late 2008 and June 2013, I-10 through south Baton Rouge was widened to 2×3 lanes as part of the GeauxWider project. Then, between 2018 and 2020, I-10 continued eastward widening to 2×3 lanes to LA 73 at Prairieville.
New Orleans
I-10 has been widened in phases in the western suburbs of New Orleans. In 2004, a section between I-610 and Airline Highway was widened from 2×3 to 2×4 lanes. Also in 2004, 3 kilometers between Clearview Parkway and Causeway Boulevard were widened from 2×3 to 2×5 lanes. In 2008, a further 3 kilometers to the I-610 was widened to 2×5 lanes. On January 13, 2015, the 2 kilometer widening of I-10 in Metairie between Veterans Boulevard and Clearview Parkway was completed. The highway has been widened here from 2×3 to 2×5 lanes.
Future
Lake Charles
It is planned to replace the Calcasieu River Bridge with a wider bridge, and widen the corridor from I-10 through Lake Charles to 2×3 lanes. Replacing the Calcasieu River Bridge is technically and environmentally complicated. On December 18, 2020, the green light was given to replace the bridge through a PPP project.
The original bridge dates from 1952 and was originally intended for US 90. This narrow bridge has been part of Interstate 10 since the 1960s.
Lafayette – Baton Rouge
Work began in May 2017 to widen a 25-kilometer stretch of I-10 between Lafayette and the Atchafalaya Bridge to 2×3 lanes. The first phase of 12 kilometers was completed in 2019. In early 2020, the second phase up to the Atchafalaya Bridge began. The entire project will cost $300 million. This route still had the original concrete road surface from the 1960s.
Traffic intensities
26,000 vehicles cross the Texas border every dayabout. In Lake Charles, this increases to 52,000 vehicles per day, before dropping to 35,000 vehicles. This then rises to about 60,000 in Lafayette and about 40,000 of those remain towards Baton Rouge. 107,000 vehicles cross the Mississippi River daily in Baton Rouge, and 190,000 vehicles between I-110 and I-12. After I-12, it drops to 103,000 vehicles in the southeastern suburbs of Baton Rouge. Between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, this drops to a typical 35,000 vehicles per day. After I-55 at La Place, this rises to 51,000 vehicles, and 65,000 in Metairie, a significant drop after Hurricane Katrina. Also through New Orleans the intensities are only half what they were before 2005, with about 70,000 to 80,000 vehicles per day. Only 34. 000 vehicles cross Lake Pontchartrain to the mainland every day. At Slidell, 57,000 vehicles and 35,000 vehicles cross the border withMississippi over.
Lane Configuration
I-10 in Downtown New Orleans.
Van | Unpleasant | Lanes | Comments |
Exit 0 | Exit 153 | 2×2 | western Louisiana |
Exit 153 | Exit 155 | 2×3 | use over the Mississippi |
Exit 155 | Exit 156 | 2×4 | Baton Rouge |
Exit 156 | Exit 173 | 2×3 | Baton Rouge |
Exit 173 | Exit 210 | 2×2 | |
Exit 210 | Exit 226 | 2×3 | Kenner |
Exit 226 | Exit 230 | 2×5 | western New Orleans |
Exit 230 | Exit 234 | 2×4 | New Orleans |
Exit 234 | Exit 238 | 2×3 | New Orleans |
Exit 238 | Exit 240 | 2×4 | New Orleans |
Exit 240 | Exit 254 | 2×3 | eastern New Orleans |
Exit 254 | Exit 263 | 2×2 | brug over Lake Pontchartrain |
Exit 263 | Exit 268 | 2×3 | |
Exit 268 | Exit 274 | 2×2 |