Interstate 10

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Interstate 10
Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Length: 2460 mi (3960 km)
Formed: 1957
West end: SR 1 in Santa Monica, CA
Major
junctions:		 I-5 in Los Angeles, CA
I-15 in Ontario, CA
I-25 near Las Cruces, NM
I-20 near Kent, TX
I-35 in San Antonio, TX
I-45 in Houston, TX
I-55 near La Place, LA
I-65 in Mobile, AL
I-75 near Lake City, FL
East end: I-95 in Jacksonville, FL

Interstate 10 (abbreviated I-10 or IH-10) is the southernmost east-west, coast-to-coast interstate highway in the United States. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) in Santa Monica, California (map) to Interstate 95 in Jacksonville, Florida (map).

Contents

[edit] Major cities

Lengths
mi km
CA 242.54[1] 390.33
AZ 392.33[1] 631.39
NM 164.27[1] 264.37
TX 881[1] 1418
LA 274.42[2][1] 441.64
MS 77.19[1] 124.23
AL 66.31[1] 106.72
FL 362.26[3] 583.00
2460 3959

Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs.

[edit] Route description

This sign in Santa Monica, California indicates that I-10 is the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway
Enlarge
This sign in Santa Monica, California indicates that I-10 is the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway

[edit] California

See also: Interstate 10 in California

Between its west terminus in Santa Monica, California and the East Los Angeles Interchange it is known as the Santa Monica Freeway. The Santa Monica Freeway is also called the "Rosa Parks Freeway" for the segment beginning at the San Diego Freeway (The 405 Freeway) and ending at the Harbor Freeway (The 110 Freeway), however either name can be used when referring to this stretch of road. The segment between the East Los Angeles Interchange and the city of San Bernardino, California (53 miles, or 92 km long) is known as the San Bernardino Freeway. Other names exist for the freeway. For example, a sign near the western terminus of the highway announces it as the "Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway". It is known to a considerably lesser degree as the "Veterans' Memorial Highway" and is listed as a Blue Star Highway. Many times it is just simply referred to as "the 10."

A stretch in Palm Springs is signed as the "Sonny Bono Memorial Freeway" as a tribute to the late entertainer who served both as mayor and as a United States Congressman. A second stretch a short distance east in Indio is signed as the "Doctor June McCarroll Memorial Freeway". As a nurse with the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1924, Dr. McCarroll was alarmed at the number of head-on traffic collisions on a nearby stretch of then-new U.S. Route 99, today known as State Route 86. She is credited with painting a white stripe down the middle of 99 near Coachella in order to separate the two lanes of traffic.

[edit] Arizona

In Arizona, the highway is designated the "Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway". The portion through Phoenix is named the "Papago Freeway". This designation starts at the initial junction/southern terminus of I-17 and runs westward out to AZ 101, a loop route whose current western terminus is Interstate 10.

From the southern terminus of Interstate 17 to the junction with the US 60 freeway, the Superstition, the freeway is signed as the "Maricopa Freeway". This name holds true as well for I-17 from its southern terminus to its second junction with I-10, north of McDowell Road. From U.S. 60 south to Interstate 8 (eastern terminus in Casa Grande), the freeway is not signed with a name. ADOT has maps that show it as the Maricopa Freeway, while AAA and other sources show it as the Pima Freeway. The latter's name is used on a stretch of Loop 101 from U.S. 60 to Interstate 17.

In Tucson, I-10 is called the Casa Grande Highway from the western edge of town to the eastern terminus of Business Loop 10, where it picks up the name, Tucson-Benson Highway from that route.

[edit] New Mexico

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

[edit] Texas

See also: Interstate 10 in Texas

In El Paso, Texas, I-10 is called Gateway Boulevard based on designations for the frontage roads.

A small portion of I-10 from Loop 1604 to downtown in San Antonio, Texas is known as the Northwest Expressway or the McDermott Freeway, while another portion from downtown to Loop 1604 East is called East Expressway or Jose Lopez Freeway.

I-45 and I-10 next to Downtown Houston
Enlarge
I-45 and I-10 next to Downtown Houston

In Houston, from the western suburb of Katy to downtown, I-10 is known as the "Katy Freeway." This section is currently being widened to as much as 26 lanes (12 mainlanes, 4 lanes of access roads, and 4-6 mid-freeway HOT/HOV lanes, not counting access road turning lanes)[4] and will be one of the widest freeways in the world. The section east of downtown Houston is officially known as the "East Freeway," although it is widely known by locals as the "Baytown East Freeway" due to a marketing push by Baytown, the easternmost principal city of the Greater Houston Area.

In Beaumont, it is designated Eastex Freeway between both splits with U.S. Highway 69. Eastex is not to be confused with the designation for U.S. Highway 59 in Houston.

[edit] Louisiana

See also: Interstate 10 in Louisiana

In Louisiana, an 18.2-mile (29.3 km) stretch of the elevated highway between Lafayette and Baton Rouge is known as the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway, as it goes over the Atchafalaya River and the adjacent swamps. In New Orleans, a stretch of I-10 from the I-10/I-610 split near the Orleans-Jefferson parish line to the U.S. Route 90 / U.S. Route 90 Business interchange is known as the Pontchartrain Expressway. Near Slidell, the final stretch of I-10 through the Mississippi state line is known as the "Stephen Ambrose Memorial Highway".

Interstate 10 eastbound in downtown Mobile, Alabama approaching the George Wallace Tunnel underneath the Mobile River, posted at 40 mph (60 km/h) because of the sharp curve approaching the tunnel.
Enlarge
Interstate 10 eastbound in downtown Mobile, Alabama approaching the George Wallace Tunnel underneath the Mobile River, posted at 40 mph (60 km/h) because of the sharp curve approaching the tunnel.

[edit] Mississippi

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

[edit] Alabama

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I-10 runs through Mobile and Baldwin Counties in Southwest Alabama. It goes through one of the only road tunnels in Alabama, the George C. Wallace tunnels under the Mobile River and then crosses approximately eight miles of the upper part of Mobile Bay. There has been much talk of bypassing the tunnels and crossing the river with a bridge instead.[citation needed]

[edit] Florida

See also: Interstate 10 in Florida
This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

Most of Interstate 10 in Florida travels through some of least-populated areas in the state, much of which is forested. Consequently, I-10 west of Interstate 295 in Jacksonville has only 4 lanes.[5] In Pensacola, an approximately 3-mile stretch of I-10 is currently being widened to 6 lanes, which will be completed in 2007.[6] A construction project also started in Tallahassee in October 2006 to widen I-10 to six lanes.[7]

In Jacksonville, as in Arizona, I-10 is known as Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway. Throughout much of Florida, Interstate 10 is also known as State Road 8 or State Road 8A, though it is not signed as such.[8]

[edit] Alternate routes

I-310 and I-510 are parts of what was slated to be I-410 and act as a southern bypass of New Orleans, Louisiana. I-610 is a shortcut from the eastern to western portion of New Orleans avoiding the I-10's detour into New Orleans' Central Business District.

Interstate 12 between Baton Rouge, Louisiana and I-59 in Slidell is actually a shorter route than I-10 between the two adjoining points, since I-10 dips to the south to go through New Orleans. Those traveling through Baton Rouge who do not wish to detour into New Orleans should leave I-10 and take I-12 for its entire route until it again meets with I-10.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the I-10 Twin Span Bridge, a portion of I-10 between New Orleans and Slidell spanning the eastern end of Lake Pontchartrain, was severely damaged, causing a break in I-10 at that point. Unlike the Escambia Bay Bridge (east of Pensacola, Florida and damaged by Hurricane Ivan) which is a major artery, Interstate 12 is available to bypass New Orleans and taking I-12 to the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway allowed entry and exit to and from the Greater New Orleans area from the East. On October 14, 2005 at 3:00 PM, the eastbound span was reopened to two way traffic. On January 6, 2006 at 6:00 AM, both lanes of the westbound span were reopened to traffic using temporary metal trusses and road panels to replace damaged sections. [1] This restored all four lanes of the I-10 twin spans for normal traffic with a 45 mph (70 km/h) speed limit for the westbound lanes and 60 mph (100 km/h) for the eastbound lanes. Oversized and overweight traffic is prohibited until a new permanent six lane span is built to replace the two temporarily repaired spans. Construction is slated to begin in mid-July 2006, with the new westbound span opening in 2008/2009 and the new eastbound span opening in 2011. See WWL-TV story

In Mississippi, the twin spans crossing the Pascagoula River were opened on October 1 and are now operational, making that state's portion fully functional.

I-610 is also the designation for the "loop" circling Houston, Texas.

I-410 is also the designation for the "loop" circling San Antonio, Texas.

[edit] Intersections with other interstates

[edit] Spur routes

Interstate 10 eastbound passing over Lake Charles in Louisiana
Enlarge
Interstate 10 eastbound passing over Lake Charles in Louisiana
 Auxiliary routes of Interstate 10
I-110 California - Florida - Louisiana - Mississippi - Texas
I-210 California - Louisiana
I-310 Louisiana
I-410 Texas
I-510 Louisiana
I-610 Louisiana - Texas
I-710 California
I-910 Louisiana
past/
future		 I-110: California - I-210: Alabama - I-310: Louisiana - I-410: Arizona - Louisiana - Louisiana - I-510: Arizona - I-710: Arizona

[edit] Notes

  • Interstate 10 is one of only two interstate highways in America that has an alternate route that's shorter than the actual route. I-12 in Louisiana provides a shortcut for I-10 travelers. U.S. 290 from Houston through Austin and back to I-10 near the villiage of Segovia, TX, is actually shorter than if one actually stayed on I-10 throughout Texas. (The other is Interstate 64 between Lewisburg, West Virginia and Charleston, West Virginia, where U.S. Highway 60 provides a shorter distance route between the 2 points.)
  • In January 1994, the I-10 overpasses over La Cienega and Venice Boulevards in Los Angeles, California collapsed during the Northridge earthquake. This section of freeway bears one of the heaviest traffic loads in California, and was reopened just 66 days later after emergency around-the-clock construction.
  • The interstate's route through Phoenix was hotly contested in the 1960s and 1970s. A plan proposed by the Arizona Department of Transportation involved city block-sized 270-degree "helicoils" that would connect motorists to freeway lanes 100 feet (30 m) in the air, but voters killed it in 1973 as a result of opposition from the Arizona Republic and a growing nationwide anti-freeway sentiment. Ten years later, ADOT unveiled the current below grade plans. Despite local opposition, Interstate 10 was finally completed on August 10, 1990.
  • I-610 in New Orleans and the aforementioned I-12 make I-10 one of only two interstates in the country to have two "bypasses" that are shorter than the "main" route. The other is I-64, which also has two "bypasses" shorter than the "main" route in the Hampton Roads area of southeastern Virginia.
  • I-10 is one of the very few interstates that have at-grade intersections (roads that intersect it at a 90 degree angle, as opposed to an overpass with on and off ramps). These are private access roads (mostly from large ranches) which occur over a limited stretch in western Texas.
  • I-10 is one of only a few interstates that have 7% downhill grades in certain areas. (7% grades violate the 6% gradient maximum that's permitted on Interstates and Freeways in America.) These 7% downhill grades, according to the signs on the freeway, all occur in Kerr County in the state of Texas. Other locations on the Interstates where 7% downhill grades occur include I-70 in Colorado, I-64 in West Virginia, I-68 in West Virginia, and I-26 south of Asheville, North Carolina.
  • I-210 was planned as a bypass of Mobile, Alabama, but it was never completed. The highway was eventually renamed I-165.
  • As of November 2005, I-210 in California does not actually connect to either I-10 or any other I-10 spur route (the 210 does connect however with Interstate 5 in Sylmar and Interstate 15 in Rancho Cucamonga). This is expected to change when construction of a ten-mile (16 km) connector is completed in western San Bernadino county, and SR-30 and SR-210 are re-designated as I-210. The construction is scheduled for completion by 2010. Before 2002, I-210 did connect with I-10, the Orange Freeway (State Route 57) and Chino Valley Freeway (State Route 71) at the Kellogg Interchange; today the stretch from the current I-210 to I-10 is now signed as the 57 Freeway.
  • At just under 879 miles (1,414 km),[9] the length of Interstate 10 crossing Texas, maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation, is the longest continuous untolled freeway under a single authority in North America, a title formerly held by Ontario's Highway 401. Mile marker 880 (and the corresponding exit number) near Orange, Texas are the highest numbered mile marker and exit on the interstate highway system, or for that matter, on any freeway in North America.
  • Interstate 10 is the only interstate highway in America that grants through travelers an excellent view of life in another country. (That being the shanty-towns in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, as viewed by I-10 travelers west of Downtown El Paso, Texas.) I-10 is also only 1/2 of a mile from the dense shantytowns in Juarez, Mex.
  • Texas alone contains more than a third of the interstate's entire length. El Paso, Texas (on the Texas-New Mexico border) is 785 miles (1,263 km) from the western terminus of Interstate 10, making it closer to Los Angeles than it is to Orange, Texas, approximately 880 miles (1,416 km) away. Likewise, Orange, Texas on the Texas-Louisiana border is only 789 miles (1,270 km) from the eastern terminus of Interstate 10 in Jacksonville, Florida.
  • A three-year construction project is currently underway on Interstate 10 between Causeway Boulevard and the 17th Street Canal in Metairie, Louisiana. The $68.9 million project will add new lanes in both directions and improve the exit and entrance ramps at Causeway and Bonnabel Blvd. The state has recently completed a widening project between Causeway and Clearview Pkwy and between the I-10/I-610 split and Airline Highway (US 61).
  • In Texas, there is no mile marker for mile 666 between San Antonio and Houston. The mile marker sign and its pole are missing on the westbound and eastbound sides. There are no exits on mile 666 going either way, so the mile itself is never mentioned on the highway at all.


[edit] State law

[edit] California

Legal Definition of Route 10: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 3, Section 310

 Route 10 is part of the Scenic Highway System, as stated by section 263.3 of the California State Highway Code.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Federal Highway Administration Route Log and Finder List, Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways as of October 31, 2002
  2. ^ Louisiana Interstate Highway Log
  3. ^ Florida Department of Transportation, GIS data
  4. ^ Texas Department of Transportation, Schematic Layout: IH 10 Katy Frwy, IH 10 at Bunker Hill Road
  5. ^ Interstate 10 East (Jacksonville / Duval County). AA Roads. February 3, 2005. Last accessed November 21, 2006.
  6. ^ Project Descriptions FDOT, Escambia County. Last accessed November 21, 2006.
  7. ^ I-10 ::: Project Description Moving I-10 Forward. FDOT. Last accessed November 21, 2006.
  8. ^ District Three Construction. FDOT. Updated October 19, 2006. Last accessed November 21, 2006.
  9. ^ Highway Designation File INTERSTATE HIGHWAY NO. 10. TxDOT. Last accessed November 21, 2006.

[edit] External links

[edit] California

[edit] Arizona

[edit] Texas


edit
Main Interstate Highways (multiples of 5 in pink)		 Interstate Highway marker
4 5 8 10 12 15 16 17 19 20 22 24 25 26 27 29 30
35 37 39 40 43 44 45 49 55 57 59 64 65 66 66 (W) 68
69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 (W) 76 (E) 77 78 79 80 81 82
83 84 (W) 84 (E) 85 86 (W) 86 (E) 87 88 (W) 88 (E) 89 90
91 93 94 95 96 97 99 (238) H-1 H-2 H-3
Unsigned  A-1 A-2 A-3 A-4 PRI-1 PRI-2 PRI-3
Lists  Main - Auxiliary - Suffixed - Business - Proposed - Unsigned
Gaps - Intrastate - Interstate standards - Replaced
Browse numbered routes
< SR 9 CA SR 11 >
< SR 10 AL US 11 >
< SR 7 FL 8 SR 8A >
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