New I-10 Bridge in Lake Charles, Louisiana Will Cost $2.3 Billion; Tolls Will Help Pay

(KHLA - Lake Charles, Louisiana) - The new I-10 bridge over the Calcasieu River in Lake Charles, Louisiana is expected to cost billions and the majority of that cost will be passed down to local residents and travelers on the bridge as soon as 2031.

According to the American Press, at the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury meeting on Thursday night, Jonathan S. Hill, public information manager for Franklin and Associates, the consulting firm in charge of the Interstate 10 Calcasieu River Bridge Project, provided an update.

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Hill said that Phase Two of the project is presently underway. Hill also showed a video that showed the project's final appearance. There will be more modern lighting on the new bridge. Additionally, the bridge's height will be lowered from more than 152 feet to 75 to 95 feet. The bridge will extend in a 5.5-mile section of I-10 that connects Westlake and Lake Charles.

The original Calcasieu River Bridge was built in 1952 when only an average of 37,000 vehicles traveled on the bridge daily; today that number has ballooned to over 90,000 travelers a day.

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There will be two auxiliary lanes and six travel lanes on the new bridge. The cost of the design-build contract is $2.3 billion. Residents won't have to wait for the train to cross in Westlake thanks to an elevated overpass at Sampson Street.

Jonathon Hill also had this to say at the meeting:

We are expected to start actual construction of the corridor in early 2026, partial acceptance with tolling starting in early 2031 and everything being completed in August 2031.

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