The Horace Wilkinson Bridge (locally known as the New Bridge) is a

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...

carrying

Interstate 10 in Louisiana Interstate 10 (I-10), a major transcontinental Interstate Highway in the Southern United States, runs across the southern part of Louisiana for from Texas to Mississippi. It passes through Lake Charles, Louisiana, Lake Charles, Lafayette, ...

across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

from Port Allen in

West Baton Rouge Parish West Baton Rouge Parish (, Spanish language, Spanish: ''Parroquia del Oeste de Baton Rouge'') is one of the List of parishes in Louisiana, sixty-four parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Established in 1807, its parish seat is Port Allen, L ...

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

East Baton Rouge Parish East Baton Rouge Parish (; ) is the most populous List of parishes in Louisiana, parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its population was 456,781 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county seat, parish seat is Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. Around the Baton Rouge metropolitan area, the bridge is more commonly known as the "New Bridge" because it is the younger of the two bridges that cross the river in Baton Rouge, downstream of the older Huey P. Long Bridge. The structure begins at the

Louisiana Highway 1 Louisiana Highway 1 (LA 1) is a state highway in Louisiana. At , it is the longest numbered highway of any class in Louisiana. It runs diagonally across the state, connecting the oil field, oil and gas fields near the island of Grand Isle, ...

(LA 1) exit south of Port Allen. After the interstate crosses the superstructure, it remains an elevated viaduct up to the Dalrymple Drive exit to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. It is the highest bridge on the Mississippi River.

Name

The bridge is named after three separate Horace Wilkinsons who served a total of 54 years in the Louisiana legislature. Horace Wilkinson, along with his son and grandson, were honored with the naming of the I-10 bridge by Act 206 of the Louisiana Legislature in 1968.

Traffic

The bridge is notorious amongst many for daily backups stretching a few miles (several kilometers). Most traffic stems from the I-10/ I-110 junction. Eastbound traffic is reduced from three lanes to one through lane and an exit lane to Washington Street around a sharp curve. Traffic must be cautious as traffic from I-110 South may cross all lanes of traffic to exit at Washington street, only away. Because of this junction and lack of shoulders along the entire bridge, traffic usually backs up to, at least, the LA 415 exit (Exit 151) and for along LA 1 northbound. Westbound congestion occurs from slower traffic entering from the short transition zone of the St. Ferdinand Street entrance ramp and the narrowing of I-10 when it loses a lane to exit at LA 1. In response, Sherri LeBas, secretary of the LA DOTD, said that as of November 2013, it was not looking at widening or modernizing the I-10/I-110 interchange, citing cost. Instead, the state will modernize LA 1 from I-10 to US-190 to encourage detours to the less-congested Huey Long Bridge.State weighs options for easing I-10 traffic , Home , The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana
/ref>

Improvements

Around October 2003, the I-10E/I-110S merge was re-striped to reduce I-110 South from three lanes to two lanes, allowing I-10 its own lane, no longer mandating I-10 East commuters to shift to the left to continue on I-10 East. In August 2010, the I-10 West exit to LA 1 had been restriped to prevent the center lane from exiting. This change has since been reverted. In 2010, the bridge's signage was replaced. These newer signs better demarcate the boundary between

and

. The installed signs also displayed the official name of the bridge. A project began in 2015 to grind rust off the bridge.

References

External links

Horace Wilkinson Bridge
by John Weeks {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Horace Wilkinson Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream = Huey P. Long Bridge , upstream signs =
''Kansas City Southern Railway'' , downstream = Plaquemine Ferry , downstream signs = Bridges over the Mississippi River Buildings and structures in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Interstate 10 Bridges completed in 1968 Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Road bridges in Louisiana Cantilever bridges in the United States

Name

Traffic

Improvements

See also

References

External links