The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) has named a team led by Huval and Associates, Inc. as the construction management leaders for the I-10 widening program in Baton Rouge Parish.
The project is at the beginning of the design phase. Huval and Associates, and their team, will design the construction of the project. In the final stages of its environmental assessment, the project will widen I-10 from LA 415 to Essen Lane and stretch from the west side of Baton Rouge Parish to the eastside.
The project is being funded by $360 million in GARVEE bonds, along with contributions from the city of Baton Rouge – Parish of East Baton Rouge Government, and the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Planning Organization.
GARVEE bonds tax-exempt financing mechanisms that are backed by annual federal appropriations for federal-aid transportation projects.
“In August of 2018, the Federal Highway Administration and the state signed an agreement to utilize GARVEE bonds for the first time to address major projects that have been needed for years but never had the funding,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “We have already started on a new Loyola interchange in Kenner and new access to Barksdale Air Force Base from I-20 in Bossier City, both of which are critical to the state’s economy. This announcement today is another demonstration of this administration’s dedication to improving the state’s infrastructure as we continue to move this much-needed and long-awaited project forward.”
The I-10 improvements are part of a bigger scope of improvements along the corridor that began with the opening of an off-ramp on Terrace St. and the replacement of the KCS Bridge at Acadian. Later this year, work on the College Drive Flyover is expected to begin.
“The execution of this project will not only provide immense traffic benefits but will also assist in rebuilding the economy following the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Hundreds of long-term jobs will be created because of this, which will stimulate Louisiana’s economy to what it has been in prior months,” continued Wilson.