Interstate 10 (I-10) is the fourth-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90, I-80, and I-40. It is the southern-most of the two coast-to-coast Interstate Highways (the other is I-80). It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) in Santa Monica, California to Interstate 95 in Jacksonville, Florida. I-10 intersects with nine of the 10 primary north–south interstates (all except I-85) and also with the major Interstate routes I-8, I-12, I-17, I-19, I-20, I-37, Interstate 45, I-49 and I-59.

 

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 I-405 (the San Diego Freeway), and ending at I-110 / State Route 110 (the Harbor Freeway); either name can be used when referring to this stretch of road. The segment between the East Los AngelesInterchange and the city of San Bernardino, California, 63 miles (101 km) long, is known as the San Bernardino Freeway. Other names exist for I-10. For example, a sign near the western terminus of the highway (in Santa Monica, California) announces it as the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway. It is known to a considerably lesser degree as the "Veterans Memorial Highway", and it is listed as a Blue Star Memorial Highway. In Palm Springs, I-10 is also 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. Another stretch a short distance east in Indio is signed as the Doctor June McCarroll Memorial Freeway.

 

Arizona

In Arizona, the highway is designated the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway. The portion through Phoenix is named the Papago Freeway and is a vital piece of the regional freeway system. This designation starts at AZ Loop 101, near 99th Avenue, and runs eastward to the interchange southeast of downtown which is the terminus of I-17.

 

Louisiana

In Louisiana, an 18-mile (29 km) stretch of elevated highway between Lafayette and Baton Rouge is known as the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway, as it goes over the Atchafalaya River, across the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, and the adjacent swamps. It crosses the Mississippi River at the Horace Wilkinson Bridge. In Lake Charles, a 13-mile (21 km) stretch called I-210 goes through the southern portion of the city. Interstate 12 links Baton Rouge to Slidell and bypasses Interstate 10's southward jog through New Orleans by remaining north of Lake Pontchartrain. In New Orleans, a stretch of I-10 from the I-10/I-610 Junction near the Orleans-Jefferson parish line to the U.S. Route 90 / U.S. Route 90 Business Junction is known as the Pontchartrain Expressway. A dip near the I-10/I-610 Junction to travel under a railroad track is one of the lowest points in New Orleans, and is highly susceptible to flooding. Pictures of water dozens of feet deep during Hurricane Katrina are commonplace. Near Slidell, the final stretch of I-10 through the Mississippi state line is known as the Stephen Ambrose Memorial Highway.

 

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

 

Mississippi

Interstate 10 in Mississippi runs from the Louisiana state line to the Alabama state line through Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties on the Gulf Coast. It passes through the northern sections of Gulfport and Biloxi while passing just north of Pascagoula and Bay St. Louis. It also passes right south of the Stennis Space Center. The highway roughly parallels U.S. Route 90.

 

History

In Tucson, AZ all exits between Prince Road and 22nd Street are being reopened after an extensive, three-year improvement project. I-10 has been being widened from six to eight lanes, and seven bridges and underpasses have been built to deal with congestion.[10] Plans are also under way to widen I-10 from Marana north to the I-8 interchange at Casa Grande from 4 lanes to 6 lanes starting in the later half of 2007 and continuing into 2008 and 2009.

 

Texas formerly shared the highest speed limit in the nation with Utah's test section of I-15. The speed limit along I-10 from Kerr County to El Paso County was raised by the Texas Legislature to 75 miles per hour (121 km/h) in 1999 and to 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) in 2006. However, the nighttime maximum speed limit remained 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) and the daytime truck speed limit was 70 miles per hour (110 km/h). With 70,000 miles (110,000 km) of highway in Texas the 432-mile (695 km) stretch of Interstate 10, and 89 miles (143 km) of Interstate 20, between Monahans and the I-10 interchange at the cusp of the Jeff Davis Mountains, only a small percentage of roads were affected.

 

On September 1, 2011, night-time speed limits were eliminated and the statutory maximum speed limit in Texas was increased from 80 to 85 mph, although no 85 mph speed zones have yet been established.