BATON ROUGE, La. — In December of 2023, WBRZ reported that the state was planning to take longer to finish the I-10 widening project.

Orange cones, work crews and heavy equipment still line I-10 in Baton Rouge, but state transportation officials say the widening project is not behind schedule.

Instead, they say the scope of the work has grown. Rodney Mallett with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development said the state adjusted plans to ease the impact on drivers during construction.

“Well to help the public out, it’s going to extend the project a little bit, but we’re going to keep three lanes open in each direction,” Mallett said.

He explained that while some drivers think the project has stalled, construction has never stopped. “So when people say the project has been delayed, that’s more of a something has caused us not to work, right? Construction has not stopped at all during this whole process,” Mallett said.

Those adjustments required federal approval before moving forward. DOTD says big changes are on the horizon in the next five to six years. The Louise Street exit will be removed, replaced with a new westbound exit at City Park Lake that will connect drivers to Dalrymple Drive, Washington Street and Louise Street. Drivers heading southbound on I-110 will also see changes.

To reach Dalrymple, they will need to exit at Terrace Avenue and travel through two new roundabouts.

“The roundabouts are going to help traffic a lot better in that area because you know, you have continuous movement and you’re not sitting there stopping at a red light,” Mallett said.

The project’s next phase will begin soon. By the end of the year, crews will start work on expanding the westbound flyover ramp towards Lafayette.