Drivers frequenting the interstate corridor from the I-10 and I-12 split to Siegen Lane will now have six lanes in full operation, marking the beginning of the end of the overdue widening project.
The three east-bound lanes opened last week, and the three west-bound lanes opened over the weekend. The area of construction from Siegen Lane to Highland Road is expected to be finished this spring.
“We’re very optimistic about the improvement of traffic and bump in safety that this is going to provide,” said Geaux Wider construction initiative program spokesman Bill Grass.
Grass said during the day all lanes up to Siegen Lane will be open, but construction will persist for a while.
“Motorists can still expect construction work to be finishing up over the coming weeks. They can still expect some nighttime lane closures here and there because the crews are going to be doing a lot of work in the median to finish things off,” he said.
DOTD Communications Director Jodi Conachen referenced the success of the I-12 widening project from O’Neal Lane to Juban Road as an example of what she predicts the I-10 widening project to achieve.
“Right now we have about 70,000 people who drive the [I-10] corridor every day. Before construction it was somewhere around 80,000 or 90,000,” Conachen said. “People have been avoiding some of this congestion, so we expect people to redirect and start using the interstate system again.”
Psychology freshman Blake Constant said she may start using I-10 once it’s fully completed to Highland Road, but for now, she said she is going to stick to alternate routes.
“I feel like it’ll help, but [now] it goes back to two lanes and traffic gets bad again,” she said.
Whitney Abadie, psychology junior, said she avoids I-10 whenever possible by taking back roads to get to her destinations.
“There’s nothing we can do about [traffic] – it’s always going to be a problem,” she said.
Abadie said now that three lanes are open, she thinks more people will use the interstate system in Baton Rouge, which will only create more traffic problems.
Sports administration freshman Katilyn Simpson is accustomed to congested roadways through her experience with Houston traffic, but said she is willing to try the route now that six lanes are fully operational to Siegen Lane.
However, she said “traffic will most likely always be bad” in Baton Rouge because of bad drivers who utilize I-10.
Work on the widening project began in January 2009 and was headed by Austin Bridge and Road Inc.
The project was scheduled to be completed in early 2011, but design issues coupled with other delays caused the end date to be pushed back numerous times.
“Overall from the original time we notified the public to today, it’s about a year and a half behind schedule,” Conachen said.
Boh Bros. Construction replaced the previous contractor and since has made significant progress, Grass said.
“Ever since Boh Bros. took over the project, they have been phenomenal. They’ve been out there doing double shifts, just really working hard to get everything done as quickly as possible,” he said.
