The Louisiana Department of Transportation says a major step has been taken in the construction of a new I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge. Project Manager Paul Vaught says they’ve officially reached a financial close, which means the developer has sold the bonds needed to complete financing. He says the developer, Calcasieu Bridge Partners, will start final designs immediately.
“Full-on construction operations will begin in earnest in early 2026, and we anticipate that the entire project will take approximately seven years to complete.”
The current I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge is over 70 years old and building a new bridge has been discussed for years. Vaught says the House Transportation committee voted against a financing plan last October. However, Vaught says Governor Landry’s administration got the project back on track, “and they worked hard to have the conversations needed to bring around the vote to what it needed to be, and there were some other contractual changes. And through those efforts, we were able to proceed with the project and get to where we are today.”
State and federal funding cover $1.2 billion of the $2.3 billion total cost, and the rest will come from tolls collected at the bridge. Once the bridge is open, it will cost those outside the five-parish area $2.50 with a toll tag and $3.75 without. Vaught says the state will retain around 15% of the tolls’ net profit…
“Those funds can be used to either reduce the cost of the toll, to shorten the term of the toll, or for other capital improvement transportation projects in the five-parish area,” he explains.
The new bridge will be less steep and feature more lanes, full shoulders and roadway lighting.
Preliminary construction work can begin later this year and the goal is to have a new bridge constructed in 2031.
