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Aerial Tour: I-10, Highway 29 Improvements
April 14, 2017
Work on the I-10/U.S. 29 interchange improvements is currently focused on widening on both the interstate and U.S. 29. Scroll down for an aerial tour of the construction activities.
Above: I-10 eastbound near the on-ramp from U.S. 29 north. Crews began driving piles for the new, wider bridge at the end of last year. The new section of the bridge is now close to completion and crews are at work to widen the I-10 eastbound roadway. When the project is complete, drivers will no longer have a left-hand merge from U.S. 29 south to I-10 eastbound. There will be a through travel lane making I-10 eastbound near the interchange three lanes.
Above: I-10 eastbound is on the left and I-10 westbound on the right. Old Palafox Street is at the bottom of the photo, crossing above I-10.
Traffic on I-10 westbound is shifted to the inside so crews can mill, resurface and widen the existing outside shoulder and travel lanes. On I-10 eastbound, crews are grading for the new travel lane and shoulder.
Above: An aerial view of I-10 and U.S. 29 near the interchange. In the bottom center, crews are working off the roadway to construct what will be the new “Exit 10” from I-10 westbound to U.S. 29. Drivers traveling from I-10 westbound to U.S. 29 south will utilize a new traffic signal on U.S. 29. Drivers traveling from I-10 westbound to U.S. 29 north will bypass the new signal and merge onto U.S. 29.
Also in this picture, crews are working in the U.S. 29 median to widen the roadway. U.S. 29 will have three lanes in each direction near the interchange when the project is complete.
Drivers will continue to encounter lane and ramp closures between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Comments
6 Responses to “Aerial Tour: I-10, Highway 29 Improvements”
I travel I-10 east and west bound. Given the situation, I feel the biggest help would be doing some vegetation clear cutting to improve the line of sight. Drivers on I-10 need to be able to see the incoming merging traffic from a distance in order to anticipate lane changes and merging traffic needs to see incoming interstate traffic to gauge speed to merge safely. Currently the line of sight is abysmal!!!
The US-29 South ramp will no longer “merge” onto I-10 East. The ramp will keep its lane making I-10 East three lanes at this point.
The US-29 North ramp to I-10 East will now merge, instead of keeping its lane. This right hand merge lane will be of sufficient length.
With respect to the I-10 West ramp to US-29 South, it is being removed. It will be replaced with a intersection with a traffic signal.
This is all that can be done given the original design. To merge on to eastbound I-10 is dangerous – it is what it is – what would help is that more warning signs are in place directing drivers they need to be merging to right to help with merging traffic from the left. Now this all depends on several important factors:
1. Drivers complying with the rules of the road. 2. Common sense on the road rearing its ugly head 3. Common courtesy 4. Putting those damn telephones down and focus on driving safely. Reality? You have a better chance of winning the lottery than compliance with any of the above.
One more thing – merging southbound on to Hwy 29 from I-10 west – The sign is ” YIELD” BEFORE YOU TRY TO MERGE – NOT” I HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY” Lots of $$ spent on road improvements and all of it dependent on a driver’s intellect.
@ Don Neese.
Your still going to merge from the left lane just a lot longer to do it. Without tearing it all down there is no other way to fix the original screwed design.
What about Hwy 29 and Nine Mile Rd? There seems to be no progress.
I hope this helps. Whoever designed the original merge lanes had to be drunk…Merging into traffic from the left lane is extemely dangerous…there are accidents here daily.