Legislative committee OKs move to borrow more for I-10 overhaul

BATON ROUGE – A joint legislative committee on Monday advanced a plan to increase Louisiana’s borrowing limit for an upcoming overhaul of I-10 in and around Baton Rouge.

The unanimous vote followed a question-and-answer session between lawmakers from the House and Senate and transportation officials, who explained that inflation and other considerations have driven up the price tag on the massive construction project.

Significant changes were introduced in January in hopes of mitigating the impact construction will have on drivers.

The Department of Transportation and Development is looking to finance the project with hundreds of million of dollars from a federal bond program. The vote Monday aims to boost the cap on that part of the financing to $830 million.

It had been set at a limit of $650 million.

Once completed, there will be four lanes in each direction from the I-10/I-110 split to Acadian Thruway. Construction is scheduled to begin this year and officials now hope it will be completed in 2028.