Interstate 10

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Interstate 10
Primary Interstate

Length:

2460 mi (3959 km)
Major cities/towns: Los Angeles, CA
San Bernardino, CA
Phoenix, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Las Cruces, NM
El Paso, TX
San Antonio, TX
Houston, TX
Baton Rouge, LA
New Orleans, LA
Mobile, AL
Pensacola, FL
Tallahassee, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Established:  
Direction: East-West
Western Terminus: Santa Monica, CA
Eastern Terminus: Jacksonville, FL
States traversed: California
Arizona
New Mexico
Texas
Louisiana
Mississippi
Alabama
Florida
INTERSTATE JUNCTIONS
JUNCTION EXIT #
I-5 CA 18-19
I-15 CA 57
I-17 AZ 143
I-17 AZ 150
I-8 AZ 199
I-19 AZ 260
I-25 NM 145
I-20 TX 187
I-35 TX 570-572
I-45 TX 768
I-49 LA 103
I-12 LA 159
I-55 LA 210
I-12 LA 267
I-59 LA 267
I-65 AL 20
I-75 FL 296
I-95 FL 363
Legend
  deleted (no longer in system)   unconstructed
  closed   crossing with no access
  begin/end concurrency, bold route is carried through
  a bold route on white background indicates termini.
BROWSE STATE HWYS
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CA-9 CA-11


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

Location of Interstate 10
Enlarge
Location of Interstate 10


Contents

Route description

Between its west terminus in Santa Monica, California and the East Los Angeles Interchange it is known as the Santa Monica Freeway. 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 "Veteran's Memorial Highway" and is listed as a Blue Star Highway.

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 few miles east in Indio is signed as the "Doctor June McCarroll Memorial Freeway." As a nurse with the Southern Pacific Railroad in the 1920s, Dr. McCarroll was alarmed at the number of head-on traffic collisions on a nearby stretch of then-new U.S. Highway 99, today known as both California State Route 111 and California State Route 86 as well as Interstate 10 which replaced it between Indio and Los Angeles. She is credited with painting a white stripe down the middle of 99 near Coachella in order to separate the two lanes of traffic — the first ever pavement marking of its kind.

In Arizona, as well as Jacksonville, the highway is designated the "Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway". The portion through Phoenix is named the "Papago Freeway".

In Houston, from the western suburb of Katy to downtown, I-10 is known as the "Katy Freeway" and east of downtown, it is known as the "East Freeway."

In southeastern Louisiana, the final stretch of I-10 through the Mississippi state line is known as the "Stephen Ambrose Memorial Highway". The "Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway" marks the 18.2 mile elevated stretch of I-10 over the Atchafalaya River and surrounding swamp.

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 near the Louisiana/Mississippi state line 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 to or from 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.

NOTE: In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Twin Span, a portion of I-10 between New Orleans and Slidell spanning the eastern end of Lake Pontchartrain has been severely damaged, causing a break in I-10. But unlike the Escambia Bay Bridge (east of Pensacola, Florida) which is a major artery, Interstate 12 is available to bypass New Orleans. The section between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is functioning as an I-x10 spur route as a result. On October 14, 2005 at 3:00 PM, the eastbound span was reopened to two way traffic. In Mississippi, the twin spans crossing the Pascagoula River were opened on October 1 and are now operational, making that state's portion fully fuctional.

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

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

Length

Interstate 10 eastbound in Mobile, Alabama approaching a sharp tunnel underneath the Mobile River, posted at 40 mph (60 km/h).
Enlarge
Interstate 10 eastbound in Mobile, Alabama approaching a sharp tunnel underneath the Mobile River, posted at 40 mph (60 km/h).
Miles km state
237 381 California
392.33 631 Arizona
160 257 New Mexico
880 1,415 Texas
279 449 Louisiana
77.192 124.228 Mississippi
67 108 Alabama
362.262 583.0 Florida
2,460 3,959 Total

Major cities along the route

From West to East:

Intersections with other Interstates

Spur routes

Interstate 10 eastbound passing over Lake Charles in Louisiana
Enlarge
Interstate 10 eastbound passing over Lake Charles in Louisiana


Three-digit Interstates from 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 - I-510: Arizona - I-710: Arizona

Notes

  • 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" shorter than its normal travel. The other is I-64, which has two shorter "bypasses" in the Hampton Roads area.
  • 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). They occur in western Texas.
  • 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. This is expected to change when construction of a ten-mile connector is completed in western San Bernadino county, and SR-30 and SR-210 are redesignated as I-210. The construction is schedule for completion on or before 2010.
  • 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.


State Law

California

Legal Definition of Route 10: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 3, Section 304

Route 10 is part of the Freeway and Expressway System, as stated by section 253.1 of the California State Highway Code.
Route 10 is part of the Scenic Highway System, as stated by section 263.2 of the California State Highway Code.

External links

California

Arizona

Florida


Primary Interstate Highways 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 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 Interstate Highways
A-1 A-2 A-3 A-4 PRI-1 PRI-2 PRI-3
Lists
Two-digit Interstates - Three-digit Interstates
Gaps in Interstates - Intrastate Interstates
Interstate standards - Proposed Interstates
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