Ribbon Cutting For I-10 Widening Project Set for Tuesday

Here's a little South Louisiana pop quiz question for you. What year did the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development begin working on the I-10 widening project near Henderson? No, it wasn't 1963. Although for motorists who have had to endure the start and stop of traffic on I-10 being interrupted it might certainly seem that way.

Well today, the project, all $54.7 million dollars of it will be deemed complete. Ribbon cutting ceremonies are planned for 9:00 this morning at La Rumba in Henderson where the ceremonial ribbon will be cut and the project will have the proverbial "fork stuck in it because it's done".

You can bet this morning's ribbon-cutting ceremony will feature speeches from the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development Dr. Shawn Wilson and other dignitaries. I would imagine more than a few local officials are happy to see work on the project finally completed. I do think the heartache and headache will be worth it because traffic on the newly widened roadway has been flowing smoothly over the past several weeks.

Actual work on the project wrapped up in December of last year. Crews over the past few weeks have been tidying up the work site and making sure that all the loose ends are neatly tied. The scope of the project, some 2.7  miles of it between LA 347 and the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge should ease congestion in and around that heavily travelled portion of the roadway.

By the way, the answer to our "pop quiz question" was 2017. The project got underway in May of that year and was just wrapped up less than a month ago. See, it only seems like the construction has been going on since you were a child.