Work is scheduled to begin today on a cable barrier installation on the Interstate 10 median between the Jeff Davis/Acadia Parish line to the I-49 overpass.
The $14 million project will install more than 40 miles of high tension cable barriers that are designed to prevent vehicles from crossing the median and crashing into on-coming traffic.
The project will include grading, drainage structures, high tension cable barriers, concrete mowing strips and related work.
The work is scheduled to have day and night time operations. The daytime work is scheduled to take place from 6am – 8pm in the median and will not restrict any travel lanes, DOTD says.
Night work with intermittent inside lane and shoulder closures, both eastbound and westbound, will take place during the following times:
- Sunday – Thursday: 8pm – 6am
- Friday: 9pm – 9am
- Saturday: 8pm – 10am
Drivers can expect delays due to the night lane closures. These closures are necessary to allow crews to install the high tension cable barrier system along the edge of interstate.
There will be no vehicle width restriction associated with this work.
Emergency vehicles will have access to this area, but may encounter delays.
The project is estimated to be complete in winter 2022.
The need for a cable barrier system arose from the 2006 legislative session when a resolution was passed to look into the feasibility of installing this safety feature. The first barriers were installed in St. Tammany and St. James parishes; they were completed in 2008 and 2009.
DOTD says it performs analyses on all interstates throughout Louisiana to determine where cable median barriers would be most beneficial in preventing crossover collisions. The criteria used are number of vehicles crossing the median per mile. Since the first set of cable barriers were installed in late 2008, there have been no incidents of vehicles breaking through the barriers and crossing the median.
