BATON ROUGE– The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development announced the selection of construction management for the I-10 widening project from LA 415 in West Baton Rouge Parish to the I-10/12 split in East Baton Rouge Parish.

DOTD announced Thursday afternoon that the team being led by Huval & Associates, Inc., has officially been hired as the Construction Management at Risk (CMAR) consultant for project.

This is the beginning of the design phase of the project and a substantial part of the entire project will be funded using Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle Bonds, also known as GARVEE bonds.

A minimum of $360 million of GARVEE proceeds will go toward the construction of this phase. Additional contributions include $12 million from the City of Baton Rouge- Parish of East Baton Rouge Government, and $24 million from the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Planning Organization.

“In August of 2018, the Federal Highway Administration and the state signed an agreement to utilize GARVEE bonds for the first time to address major projects that have been needed for years but never had the funding,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said.

“We have already started on a new Loyola interchange in Kenner and new access to Barksdale Air Force Base from I-20 in Bossier City, both of which are critical to the state’s economy. This announcement today is another demonstration of this administration’s dedication to improving the state’s infrastructure as we continue to move this much-needed and long-awaited project forward.”

This issuance is part of an innovative delivery process that uses a design professional that is engaged by DOTD for professional pre-design or design services, or both. DOTD contracts separately with a CMAR contractor to engage in the pre-construction phase. This contractor may also provide construction services for the project.

Huval and Associates and their team will be responsible for designing the construction of the widening of I-10 from LA 415 to Essen Lane at the I-10/12 split. Currently, this phase is in the final stages of the Environmental Assessment.

“Using this delivery method assures that we move forward with this project in an efficient and timely manner,” said DOTD Secretary Shawn D. Wilson, Ph.D.

“This widening project is just one phase of the overall capacity project to reduce traffic congestion along I-10 from the Mississippi River Bridge to the I-10/ I-12 split and to improve the traffic configuration along this corridor. It is long overdue, and because of the hard work of so many people we are one step closer to beginning construction on this highly traveled section of interstate.”

Improvements on this decades-old corridor have already begun with the opening of the Terrace St. off-ramp and projects currently in delivery include the KCS Bridge Replacement at Acadian and the design-build project for the College Drive Flyover, which is expected to be awarded later this year.

“The execution of this project will not only provide immense traffic benefits but will also assist in rebuilding the economy following the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Hundreds of long-term jobs will be created because of this, which will stimulate Louisiana’s economy to what it has been in prior months,” continued Wilson.

The project team includes Huval & Associates, Inc., G.E.C., Inc., Arcadis U.S., Inc., Sigma Consulting Group, Inc., Modjeski and Masters, Inc., Ardaman & Associates, Inc., APS Design & Testing, L.L.C., GOTECH, Inc., Franklin Associates, L.L.C., Reich Landscape Architecture, LLC, and ELOS Environmental, L.L.C.

A contract execution for pre-construction services is anticipated no later than summer 2020.

More information on this project can be found here.