The Washington Street ramp on Interstate 10 is set to permanently close next week, with one lane of I-10 in that stretch closed each night over five days until the work is finished, state transportation officials said.
The nightly I-10 lane closure is to begin Wednesday, Feb. 18, and run through Sunday, Feb. 22, the Department of Transportation and Development said. The work will include putting up concrete barriers, removing signage and restriping the area.
During the work, drivers traveling to downtown Baton Rouge from I-10 are advised to use the I-110 south exit to Terrace Avenue or the I-10 west exit to Nicholson Drive/Highland Road.
The Washington exit will be permanently closed Wednesday.
The exit closure is intended to โeliminate dangerous weaving movements and reduce bottlenecks that have contributed to crashes and delays, particularly from the high volume of vehicles merging from the Mississippi River Bridge,โ DOTD said in a news release Friday.
In the future, the closed ramp will be fully removed as part of the ongoing I-10 widening project.