Interstate 10 in Louisiana - History

History

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 U.S. 90 all the way through Louisiana, serving Lake Charles and Lafayette but not Baton Rouge. By ca. 1943, it had been shifted to the north west of New Orleans, using the Louisiana Highway 12 (LA 12), U.S. 190 and US 61 corridors, and serving Baton Rouge but not Lake Charles or Lafayette. The 1947 plan shifted it to roughly the current alignment, including the long stretch of new corridor across the Atchafalaya Swamp. The corridor was assigned the Interstate 10 designation in mid-1957.

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.

Interstate 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 U.S. 90 corridor into Mississippi, and so I-12 only ran to I-59 north of Slidell. 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.

Construction of the Interstate Highway System in Louisiana began in 1957. 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 U.S. 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.

The various sections of I-10 in Louisiana were opened to traffic as follows, going from west to east:

• Sabine River Bridge (Texas-Louisiana state line): Existing U.S. 90 bridge, opened May 11, 1954
• Sabine River to Vinton: Existing U.S. 90 opened May 11, 1954; upgraded to interstate standards and opened February 24, 1967
• Vinton to Sulphur: September 21, 1965
• Sulphur to Westlake: April 16, 1962
• Calcasieu River Bridge (Westlake-Lake Charles): Existing U.S. 90 bridge, opened September 28, 1951
• Calcasieu River to U.S. 171 (Lake Charles): April 3, 1963
• U.S. 171 (Lake Charles) to U.S. 165 (Iowa): February 17, 1964
• U.S. 165 (Iowa) to Welsh: December 9, 1964
• Welsh to Jennings: Spring 1965
• Jennings to Crowley: March 28, 1963
• Crowley to Duson: December 19, 1966
• Duson to U.S. 167 (Lafayette): October 30, 1968
• U.S. 167 (Lafayette) to Grosse Tete (including Atchafalaya Basin Bridge): March 12, 1973
• Grosse Tete to Westover: March 28, 1974
• Westover to Port Allen: November 7, 1970
• Mississippi River Bridge (Port Allen-Baton Rouge): April 10, 1968
• Baton Rouge:
  • Mississippi River to Perkins Road: September 18, 1964
  • Perkins Road to College Drive: October 1965
  • College Drive to Highland Road: May 31, 1974
• Highland Road (Baton Rouge) to Gonzales: December 19, 1974
• Gonzales to Sorrento: May 5, 1978
• Sorrento to LaPlace: April 16, 1975
• Laplace to Williams Boulevard (Kenner) (including Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge): December 17, 1971
• Jefferson Parish:
  • Williams Boulevard (Kenner) to Veterans Highway (Metairie): May 17, 1968
  • Veterans Highway (Metairie) to Causeway Boulevard (Metairie): December 1967
  • Causeway Boulevard (Metairie) to Pontchartrain Expressway (New Orleans): March 26, 1965
• New Orleans:
  • Pontchartrain Expressway:
    • Florida Boulevard to Mound Avenue: October 4, 1962
    • Mound Avenue to Airline Highway (US 61): February 16, 1962
    • Airline Highway (US 61) to Claiborne Avenue (U.S. 90): February 19, 1960
  • Pontchartrain Expressway to Tulane Avenue: December 8, 1972
  • Tulane Avenue to Orleans Avenue: June 16, 1969
  • Orleans Avenue to St. Bernard Avenue: March 14, 1968
  • St. Bernard Avenue to Franklin Avenue: February 27, 1968
  • Franklin Avenue to Industrial Canal: April 1966
  • Industrial Canal Bridge: December 21, 1965
  • Industrial Canal to Morrison Road: December 8, 1966
  • Morrison Road to Paris Road: October 18, 1972
  • Paris Road to U.S. 11: April 24, 1967
• U.S. 11 (New Orleans) to I-12/I-59 (Slidell) (including Lake Pontchartrain Twin Span Bridge): December 21, 1965
• I-12/I-59 (Slidell) to East Pearl River: February 16, 1971
• Pearl River Bridge (Louisiana-Mississippi state line): February 16, 1971

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. 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.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.The old Twin Span will be demolished in the near future.