Mendez & LeBas Tour I-10 Widening Near Orleans

Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez and Louisiana Transportation and Development Secretary Sherri LeBas reviewed Wednesday construction along Interstate 10 in Metairie, a suburb west of New Orleans. The $89 million project is designed to reduce congestion on the most heavily traveled roadway in Louisiana.Mendez’s Louisiana visit came two days after President Barack Obama released his Fiscal Year 2013 budget request, which proposes a 34% increase in highway and bridge funding. (see related story)

“Investment in infrastructure will lay a foundation for economic growth and competitiveness,” Mendez said in a statement. “This project, like so many across the nation, will help area residents by creating jobs as well as relieving congestion and letting people spend more time doing things they enjoy.”

The I-10 widening project will remove a bottleneck to alleviate severe congestion and improve access to New Orleans by reconstructing three interchanges and adding a through travel lane in each direction from the I-10 and I-610 interchange in Orleans Parish to Causeway Boulevard in Jefferson Parish. About 178,000 drivers use this section of interstate each day.

Work is scheduled to be completed this summer. The project relies on $70 million in federal funding, including $52 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.