Work will begin Thursday to widen one of Baton Rouge’s most congested roadways. More than 55,000 autos roll up and down Essen Lane every day, and you can just about set your watch to the congestion that brings traffic to a near standstill each afternoon between Interstate 10 and Perkins Road.
Both the city-parish, under its Green Light Plan, and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development have projects on tap to help alleviate traffic along Essen. When both projects are completed, about one mile of Essen, between I-10 and Perkins, will go from a five-lane roadway with a center turn lane to six lanes with a continuous, two-way center turn lane.
The city-parish will spearhead the first project, which involves adding two additional turn lanes to Essen between I-10 and United Plaza Boulevard. In addition, one lane will be added to the I-10 intersection of Essen Lane and Essen Park Avenue, as well as the two on- and off-ramps at I-10. A ceremony to mark the start of the first phase is planned for 10 a.m. Tuesday, with construction expected to last about six months. Command Construction Industries was awarded a $2.1 million contract in February to complete the first phase.
A second phase, to be spearheaded by DOTD, will include utility relocation and bridge widening. The work is expected to cost $12 million and be completed in the spring of 2018.
DOTD will manage the second phase of the Essen Lane widening project. It is estimated that the cost for the utility relocation, in addition to the roadway and bridge widening, will total roughly $12 million. DOTD has more details on both projects.
