Interstate 10 in Florida

Route description

The interstate runs roughly parallel to U.S. Route 90 (US 90) but is a more direct route, bypassing the central cores of the cities. The interstate also runs through some of the least populated areas of the state.

The western terminus of I-10 is the Florida–Alabama state line at the Perdido River, just west of Pensacola, in Escambia County. Exit 7A, SR 297 (southbound), gives access to the Pensacola Naval Air Station and the National Museum of Naval Aviation. At exit 12, I-10 serves as the northern terminus of I-110, a spur route to central Pensacola.

The eastern terminus is located at I-95 in Downtown Jacksonville with an "End" I-10 sign.

Construction

Prior to the construction of I-10, US 90 was the main east–west highway across the state.

The first section of I-10 in Florida was completed between Sanderson and Jacksonville in 1961. Construction on points westward continued in 1962. The route between Sanderson and Winfield was completed in 1963. By 1967, construction had been completed from the Alabama state line to SR 87, and was under construction from Falmouth to I-75. New construction extending I-10 east from SR 87 to Mossy Head began in 1968. The Falmouth to I-75 segment opened in 1969. Construction began in 1970 further extending I-10 westward from Mossy Head to DeFuniak Springs. New construction began in 1973 from DeFuniak Springs to Caryville and from Drifton to Capitola; the segment between Drifton and Falmouth opened that year. The Capitola to Drifton segment was completed the following year. Construction began between Caryville and Chipley in 1974, and from Chipley to Midway in 1975. The segment between Chipley and Midway was completed in 1977 except for a small portion between Kynesville and Oakdale; in 1978, the entire length of I-10, as well as the I-110 spur in Pensacola across the state opened along its original planned route.

During the planning stage of construction, I-10 was placed just north of the central business district of Tallahassee, roughly along the current route of US 90 through town, while later a spur route was proposed to go to the core of the city. Both of these proposals were dropped and a route across the north side of the city was chosen. In 2008 the interstate stretch in Tallahassee was expanded to six lanes to alleviate congestion.

In 2002, I-10, along with most of Florida's interstates, switched over from a sequential exit numbering system to a mileage based exit numbering system.

Rest area security concerns

In 1993, a British tourist was killed at the Jefferson County Rest Area in a botched burglary by teens. As a result, Florida rest stops were either patrolled or closed for at least two years when lawmakers approved cut-backs. A number of rest areas are currently regularly patrolled at night by armed security, often private, due to a resurgence in rest area-related violent crime.

Hurricane Ivan

On September 16, 2004, Hurricane Ivan made landfall near Pensacola, with the resulting storm surge causing heavy damage to the Interstate 10 bridge across Escambia Bay. As much as a quarter mile (400 m) of the bridge collapsed into the bay consisting of 58 bridge segments with an additional 66 segments knocked out of alignment, with most of the damage coming from the eastbound lanes. A $26.5 million project was awarded the following day to Gilbert Southern/Massman and to the Parsons Corporation to make emergency repairs to the bridge. Work was completed on October 4 on the westbound bridge, restoring two-way traffic seven days ahead of schedule. The more heavily damaged eastbound bridge was completely repaired on November 20, just 66 days after Hurricane Ivan made landfall, and 27 days ahead of schedule. The contractor received $1.5 million in bonuses for the early completion. The commercial truck detour sent truck traffic into Alabama and I-65 to avoid the bridges.

The causeway that carries US 90 across the northern part of the same bay was also heavily damaged.