Interstate 10 in Louisiana

Highway in Louisiana

Interstate 10 (I 10), a major transcontinental Interstate Highway in the Southern United States, runs across the southern part of Louisiana for 274.42 mile (442 km) from Texas to Mississippi. It passes through Lake Charles, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge, dips south of Lake Pontchartrain to serve the New Orleans metropolitan area, then crosses Lake Pontchartrain and leaves the state. On August 29, 2005, the I 10 Twin Span Bridge was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina, rendering it unusable. The bridge was repaired, and later replaced with two higher elevation spans in 2009 and 2010.

I 10 enters Louisiana at the state's southwestern corner from Orange, Texas, in a concurrency with US Route 90 (US 90), which leaves the freeway at the first exit. The two routes closely parallel each other through much of the state. The first community I 10 approaches in the state is Vinton, Louisiana. Between Sulphur and Lake Charles there is an interchange with I 210. I 10 crosses the Calcasieu River Bridge into Lake Charles, passing north of the center of town, before meeting the western end of I 210. Between Lake Charles and Lafayette, I 10 bypasses several small towns including Iowa, Welsh, Jennings, and Crowley. In Lafayette, I 10 meets the current southern terminus of I 49, leaving northwest out of the city and passing by the community of Breaux Bridge. From Lafayette, the highway heads east northeast toward Baton Rouge via the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway, an 18.2 mile (29 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 bypass 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. In the capital of Baton Rouge, US 190 continues east alongside I 12 to Hammond and Slidell while I 10 turns southeastward and parallels US 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).

There are calls to remove I 10 from the Claiborne Expressway in New Orleans and rename I 610 to I 10. The entire length of the Pontchartrain Expressway would likely be renamed as I 910 or I 49. The movement to remove the expressway received backing from President Biden in April 2021. However, opponents of the removal, which could cost over $4 billion, pointed out that removing the road would increase and worsen traffic through the area as well as in other neighborhoods among other things. Instead, in October 2022, the governments of Louisiana and New Orleans introduced a $94.7 million proposal to improve the elevated freeway and the space beneath it as well remove four ramps in Tremé. They proposal asked for a $47 million grant for the project.