Interstate 10

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Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the originally planned Interstate Highway network that was laid out in 1956, and its last section was completed in 1990.

I-10 stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 (SR 1, Pacific Coast Highway) in Santa Monica, California, to I-95 in Jacksonville, Florida. Other major cities connected by I-10 include (from west to east) Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tucson, Las Cruces, El Paso, San Antonio, Houston, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Gulfport, Mobile, Pensacola, and Tallahassee. Over one-third of its total length is within the state of Texas, where the freeway spans the state at its widest breadth.

Route description

Lengths

	mi	km
CA
AZ
NM
TX
LA
MS
AL
FL
Total

California

Between its west terminus in Santa Monica, California, and the major East Los Angeles Interchange, I-10 is known as the Santa Monica Freeway. The Santa Monica Freeway is also called the Rosa Parks Freeway, named after the civil rights activist, for the segment beginning at I-405 (San Diego Freeway), and ending at I-110/SR 110 (Harbor Freeway). The segment between the East Los Angeles Interchange, in East Los Angeles, and the city of San Bernardino, long, is called the San Bernardino Freeway.

Other names exist for I-10. For example, from 1976 to 2022, a sign near the western terminus of the highway in Santa Monica proclaimed the highway to be the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway. The state legislature authorized its removal in 2022 after years of lobbying by Native Americans.

I-10 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 named the Sonny Bono Memorial Freeway, named after the singer, actor, and politician, as a tribute to the late entertainer who served both as the mayor of Palm Springs, and as a U.S. representative. Another stretch a short distance east in Indio is proclaimed the Doctor June McCarroll Memorial Freeway, named after the nurse known for popularizing road lane striping.

Arizona

In Arizona, the highway is designated the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway. The portion through Phoenix is named the Papago Freeway, and it is a vital piece of the metropolitan Phoenix freeway system. This designation starts at State Route 101 (SR 101; Loop 101), near 99th Avenue, and continues eastward to the interchange southeast of downtown, which is the terminus of I-17.

Near Buckeye, the freeway has milemarkers posted every from 112.2 to 110.8 with the Interstate shield and direction of travel posted on the westbound lanes. On the eastbound lanes, milemarkers from 110.8 to 112.2 do not include the I‑10 shield and direction of travel.

From the southern terminus of I-17 to the southernmost junction with SR 202 (Loop 202), the highway is signed as the Maricopa Freeway. This name holds true as well for I-17 from its southern terminus to the Durango Curve south of Buckeye Road. From Loop 202 south to the eastern terminus of I-8 just southeast of Casa Grande, the highway is declared the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway. The Arizona Department of Transportation also has maps that show it as the Maricopa Freeway, while the American Automobile Association and other sources show it as the Pima Freeway. The latter's name is used on a stretch of Loop 101 from Loop 202 to I-17.

Between I-17 in Phoenix and the I-19 interchanges in Tucson, I-10 is included in the federally designated CANAMEX Corridor, extending from Mexico City, Mexico, to Edmonton, Alberta.

In Tucson, between I-10 mileposts 259 and 260 are interchange ramps connecting I-10 with the northern terminus of I-19.

The highest elevation along I-10 occurs just east of Tucson, west of Willcox, at the milemarker 320 exit for the rest stop. The westbound lanes of I-10 briefly cross above above sea level.

New Mexico

In New Mexico, I-10 more or less follows the former path of US Route 80 (US 80) across the state, although major portions of old US 80 were bypassed in the western New Mexico Bootheel and in Doña Ana County. I-10 passes through three southern New Mexico municipalities of regional significance before the junction with I-25: Lordsburg, Deming, and Las Cruces. Most of I-10 in New Mexico, between exit 24 and exit 135, is concurrent with US 70.

At Lordsburg is the western junction of US 70 and a concurrency; the two highways are joined all the way to Las Cruces. Several exits between Lordsburg and Deming are either for former towns (including Separ, Quincy, and Gage) or lack any town at all.

At Deming is the western junction of US 180, which also forms a concurrency with I-10 all the way to El Paso. north of Deming on US 180 is State Road 26 (NM 26) which serves as a short cut to north I-25 and Albuquerque.

I-10/US 70/US 180 continue east to Las Cruces which is the southern end of I-25. US 70 leaves I-10 (prior to the junction with I-25), heading northeast to Alamogordo and passing through the north side of Las Cruces. The junction with I-25 occurs just south of the New Mexico State University campus, on the southern end of Las Cruces. I-10/US 180 becomes concurrent with US 85 at the junction with I-25. I-10/US 85/US 180 then turns south to the Texas state line, crossing it at Anthony.

Texas

From the state line with New Mexico (at Anthony) to State Highway 20 (SH 20) in west El Paso, I-10 is bordered by frontage roads South Desert for lanes along I-10 east (actually headed south) and North Desert for lanes along I-10 west (headed north). The Interstate then has no frontage roads for but regains them east of downtown and retains them to Clint. In this stretch, the frontage roads are Gateway East for the eastbound lanes and Gateway West for the westbound lanes. All four frontage roads are one-way streets. Gateway East and Gateway West are notable, in particular, for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)'s liberal usage of the Texas U-turn at most underpasses of I-10 on this stretch.

I-10 is the western terminus for I-20, and the two highways intersect in Reeves County, about southwest of Pecos, at milemarker 186.

A small portion of I-10 from Loop 1604 to Downtown San Antonio is known as the Northwest Expressway or the McDermott Freeway, while another portion from downtown to Loop 1604 east is called East Expressway or José López Freeway. In Downtown San Antonio, it has a concurrency with I-35, and, throughout most of the northwest side of the city, it has a concurrency with US 87, which begins in Comfort, before turning off and heading east out of the city. Starting in San Antonio, it follows a more direct route of US 90, with occasional small concurrences.

In Houston, from the western suburb of Katy to downtown, I-10 is commonly known as the Katy Freeway. This section has as many as 18 lanes (12 main lanes and 6 mid-freeway high-occupancy toll [HOT]/high-occupancy vehicle [HOV] lanes, not counting access road turning lanes) and is one of the widest freeways in the world. The space for the expansion was the right-of-way of the old Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad. 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, one of the largest cities in Greater Houston.

In Beaumont, it is known as I-10 south, south of Calder Avenue, and I-10 north, north of Calder Avenue. It is known as I-10 east from the I-10 curve to the Neches River, which is Beaumont's and Jefferson County's eastern boundary line. Continuing into Orange County and passing through the city of Orange at the easternmost end of Texas, and located at the base of the Sabine River bridge is the last I-10 milemarker in Texas, number 880, before entering into Louisiana. Approximately 36 percent of I-10's entire route is located within Texas; the longest segment of any signed Interstate within one state.

Louisiana

In Lake Charles, a loop route signed as I-210 branches off of I-10 and goes through the southern portion of the city. In Lafayette, it serves as the southern terminus for I-49. Shortly afterward, there is an stretch of elevated highway between Lafayette and Baton Rouge 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 Baton Rouge, where the eastbound lanes are the only portion of I-10 that is essentially one lane.

After crossing the Horace Wilkinson Bridge, two lanes from I-110 south merge with two lanes I-10 east into three lanes with one of the eastbound lanes quickly becoming an exit only lane. After this, the highway is back to four lanes approaching the I-10/I-12 split. I-12 links Baton Rouge to Slidell and bypasses I-10's southward jog through New Orleans by remaining north of Lake Pontchartrain. On this route, I-10 serves as the southern terminus for I-55 in LaPlace and crosses over a portion of Lake Pontchartrain on the I-10 Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge.

In New Orleans, a stretch of I-10 from the I-10/I-610 Junction near the Orleans–Jefferson parish line to the US 90/US 90 Business (US 90 Bus.) 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. Buildups of rainwater dozens of feet deep (several meters) are commonplace during hurricanes. Near Slidell, I-10 serves as the eastern terminus of I-12 and the southern terminus of I-59; turning east to the Mississippi state line. The highway is known as the Stephen Ambrose Memorial Highway, named after the historian and writer, until the state line.

I-310 and I-510 are the built sections of what was slated to be I-410, which would have acted as a southern bypass of New Orleans. They function as spur routes serving lower density or suburban areas west and east of New Orleans respectively. I-610 is a shortcut from the eastern to western portion of New Orleans avoiding I-10's detour into the New Orleans Central Business District.

Mississippi

I-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 NASA Stennis Space Center. The highway roughly parallels US 90.

The law defining the route of I-10 is Mississippi Code § 65-3-3.

Alabama

I-10 crosses over the border from Jackson County, Mississippi, and it goes through Mobile County in southwestern Alabama. In Mobile, I-10 is the southern terminus of I-65. In downtown Mobile, I-10 goes through one of the few highway tunnels in Alabama, the George Wallace Tunnel under the Mobile River.

The speed limit of the eastbound approach is posted at because of the sharp downward curve approaching the tunnel. The highway then crosses approximately of the upper part of Mobile Bay on the Jubilee Parkway, a bridge that local people call the "Bayway". The highway is next to Battleship Parkway. On the other side of Mobile Bay, the highway goes through the suburban area of Baldwin County before passing through Malbis, Loxley, and then on to the Perdido River to cross over into Florida.

Florida

I-10 travels north of the cities of Pensacola and Tallahassee, serving the suburban areas within each respective city. In the former, a spur route serves the downtown area, signed as I-110. Most of I-10 in Florida travels through some of the least-populated areas in the state, with large portions of I-10 west of I-295 in Jacksonville having only four lanes.

In Jacksonville, as in Arizona, I-10 is designated as the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway. The route officially ends at the I-10/I-95 interchange northwest of Downtown Jacksonville. Throughout much of Florida, I-10 is also State Road 8 (SR 8), though it is not signed as such. (I-110 in Pensacola being known as SR 8A.)

History

File:Christophercolumbustranscontinentalhighway.jpg

From 1976 to 2022, this sign in Santa Monica, California, (and predecessor signs) declared that I-10 is the "Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway", named for the Italian explorer and navigator

Construction of I-10 began in the 1950s, and the final segment of the cross-country route was completed in 1990, with the opening of the Deck Park Tunnel in Phoenix, Arizona. Since then, I-10 has seen continual expansion, modernization, and repair along key sections in several states.

Numerous widening projects have taken place throughout the 2000s and 2010s. In Florida, I-10 was widened to six lanes through Pensacola in 2008 and Tallahassee in 2009, improving traffic flow and hurricane evacuation capacity. In Arizona, major reconstruction projects in Tucson were completed in 2009, increasing lanes and building new bridges between Prince Road and 22nd Street. The corridor between Casa Grande and Marana underwent expansion from 2007 to 2009, and additional widening projects took place through Buckeye and Avondale, with HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes added in Goodyear and extended toward Loop 101.

One of the largest single improvement efforts was the Broadway Curve Improvement Project in Phoenix, which began in 2021 and finished in 2025. This reconstruction, the largest in Arizona Department of Transportation history, expanded I-10 to up to eight lanes, added collector distributor roads to separate local from through traffic, rebuilt major interchanges including SR 143, replaced bridges, and introduced new pedestrian crossing. These changes are designed to support a projected 25% increase in corridor traffic by 2040.

In Texas, the Katy Freeway Expansion Project in Houston was completes in 2008 and is among the largest freeways reconstructions in U.S. history. This project widened I-10 to as many as 26 lanes (including express and frontage lanes) and introduced managed toll lanes, substantially increasing capacity for commuters and freight movement. Additional managed lane and drainage improvements are underway on the Inner Katy Segment as of 2025, aimed at further reducing congestion and flood risk.

The Gulf Coast portion of I-10 has required extensive repairs following major hurricanes. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Twin Span Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans, Louisiana, was severely damaged and rebuilt with federal funding, reopening with full lanes by September 2011. In Mississippi, emergency contracts restored the I-10 bridge over the Pascagoula River to two-lane traffic within weeks, with further reconstruction ongoing. These efforts underscored I-10's importance for disaster relief, evacuation, and regional recovery.

Louisiana and Mississippi, among other states, continue to upgrade portions of I-10 to improve safety, extend capacity, and harden infrastructure against future storms. Meanwhile, Arizona has advanced corridor improvements south of Phoenix along the Gala River community, adding lanes, new interchanges, and safety technology. Florida also continues to widen segments near Jacksonville and Tallahassee for hurricane evacuation efficiency.

Junction list

California

in Santa Monica

on the Mar Vista–Palms–West Los Angeles neighborhood line

in Downtown Los Angeles

in Boyle Heights; the highways travel concurrently through Boyle Heights.

in Boyle Heights

on the Monterey Park–Alhambra city line

in Baldwin Park

in Ontario

in Colton

in Redlands

in Blythe; the highways travel concurrently to Quartzsite, Arizona.

Arizona

in Quartzsite

southwest of Brenda

in Phoenix

in Phoenix

in Phoenix

in Casa Grande

in Tucson

north-northwest of Cochise; the highways travel concurrently to northeast of Willcox.

New Mexico

in Lordsburg; the highways travel concurrently to Las Cruces.

in Deming; the highways travel concurrently to El Paso, Texas.

on the Las Cruces–University Park line. I-10/US 85 travels concurrently to El Paso, Texas

Texas

in El Paso

in El Paso

in Van Horn

in Reeves County

west of Fort Stockton; the highways travel concurrently to east-southeast of Fort Stockton.

in Fort Stockton

in Fort Stockton; the highways travel concurrently to east-southeast of Fort Stockton.

west-southwest of Iraan

in Sonora

in Junction. I-10/US 83 travels concurrently to north of Segovia.

northwest of Mountain Home

in Comfort; the highways travel concurrently through San Antonio.

in San Antonio

in San Antonio; the highways travel concurrently through Downtown San Antonio.

in San Antonio. I-10/US 90 travels concurrently to west-southwest of Seguin.

in San Antonio

in San Antonio

in Seguin

in Luling

east of Waelder

in Schulenburg

east-northeast of Schulenburg

west-southwest of Glidden

east of Columbus; the highways travel concurrently to Sealy.

in Sealy; the highways travel concurrently to west-southwest of Brookshire.

in Katy; the highways travel concurrently through Houston.

in Houston

in Houston

in Houston

in Houston

in Beaumont; the highways travel concurrently through Beaumont.

in Beaumont

in Beaumont; the highways travel concurrently to Toomey, Louisiana.

Louisiana

east of Sulphur

west-southwest of Westlake; the highways travel concurrently through Lake Charles.

in Lake Charles

east-northeast of Lake Charles

east-northeast of Iowa

in Lafayette

in Baton Rouge

in Baton Rouge

southeast of Sorrento

in LaPlace

in LaPlace

west of Kenner

in New Orleans

in New Orleans

in New Orleans

in New Orleans

in New Orleans

in New Orleans

in New Orleans

in Slidell

in Slidell

Mississippi

in Gulfport

in D'Iberville

Alabama

on the Theodore–Tillmans Corner line.

in Mobile

in Mobile

east of Mobile

in Daphne

Florida

on the Brent–Ensley CDP line

on the Brent–Ensley–Ferry Pass CDP line

in Ferry Pass

in DeFuniak Springs

south of Cottondale

in Midway

in Tallahassee

in Tallahassee

in Tallahassee

north-northeast of Capps

south-southeast of Greenville

southeast of Falmouth

north-northeast of Live Oak

south of White Springs

northwest of Five Points

in Lake City

southwest of Sanderson

south-southwest of Baldwin

in Jacksonville

in Jacksonville; the highways travel concurrently through Jacksonville

in Jacksonville

Auxiliary routes

• Los Angeles, California: I-110, I-210, I-710
• San Bernardino, California: I-210
• El Paso, Texas: I-110
• San Antonio, Texas: I-410
• Houston, Texas: I-610
• Lake Charles, Louisiana: I-210
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana: I-110
• New Orleans, Louisiana: I-310, I-510, I-610, I-910 (Unsigned)
• Biloxi, Mississippi: I-110
• Pensacola, Florida: I-110
• Business routes of Interstate 10

Another I-310 is proposed to connect to Gulfport, Mississippi as well.

See also

• Template:Portal-inline

External links

• Template:Osmrelation-inline
• Interstate Guide: I-10 Template:Webarchive