BATON ROUGE- DOTD telling drivers lane and shoulder closures will start Monday in the next phase of the I-10 widening project.

The shoulder closures will be on I-10 and I-12 westbound from the Essen Ln. overpass to the College Dr. ramp in East Baton Rouge Parish.

DOTD saying the right shoulder of I-12 westbound from the Essen Lane overpass to the I-10/12 merge, continuing on I-10 westbound to the College Drive exit ramp will be closed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday, April 5, to Friday, April 9, 2021.

"This is the first real construction phase of the I-10 widening from the bridge to the I-10/12 split, this is going to be critical of what people see as well as the traffic that will take place," Shawn Wilson, DOTD Secretary said.

The plans include widening the interstate one lane on each side between LA 4-15 and the I-10/12 split along with upgrading off and on-ramps.

During the first phase, they will work on the flyover that will help westbound drivers on I-10 merge and exit at College Drive without crossing multiple lanes.

“You could probably go out at rush hour and traffic from the College ramp back up, on to the mainline of the interstate. You have a critical intersection of folks traveling from I-10 getting to College, and folks from I-12 getting on I-10,” Wilson continued, “We are going to manage that weave with the construction of this project.”

This part will cost 52 million dollars of the billion-dollar project and so far plans have stayed on track.

"The core elements and the design-build really have not changed for this project now you will see some changes in terms of schedule we accommodate, the weather as we always have to," Wilson said.

But as DOTD begins construction next week, the weather is not the only factor that could cause delays.

"We have over 98,000 thousand cars a day traveling in one direction in this footprint. So, imagine having to build this under that amount of traffic.” Wilson continued, “It'll be very important that drivers pay attention and more importantly that the contractors be prepared for such technical contract work.”

DOTD’s goal is to finish the flyover by 2022.