BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) –  The widening of I-10 is causing concern for a lot of drivers across the Baton Rouge area. The Department of Transportation and Development has created a new proposal that will hopefully ease those concerns.

“We found a way to actually widen this stretch of the flyover westbound to allow for two lanes in the westbound direction,” said Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Shawn Wilson.

The plan was to originally have one lane going both ways on I-10 westbound. Now, Wilson says they will add three lanes: two going west and one going east.

“Major traffic is going to get better because we have found a way to mitigate that. This is going to be controlled. Traffic control, congestion,” he said.

However, this means construction will take longer. Wilson says this change will add a year to the four-year project but the finances are covered.

“You know, quite frankly, we have the capacity to finance this. It was from eight years to four and save $50 million. We’re using that savings, if you will, to add back a year,” he said.

After the project is complete, it will bring the I-10 up to state standards, according to Wilson. You are already seeing phase one of the changes that are happening on College and Acadian. Major changes to traffic are expected to begin in 2024.