Nearly four years after New Orleans celebrated the opening of its brand-new airport terminal, you can now get to it straight from the interstate, without having to cycle through a gauntlet of red lights. The new I-10 airport exit opens today.
The airport opened in November 2019, and the new access ramps were supposed to open last year, but delays caused by Hurricane Ida and supply chain issues pushed it to this year.
Just last month,highway construction officials were estimating some time in November for opening the new direct access to the airport. But as it turns out, this drought did the traveling public a favor.
"We got very fortunate," said Dan Gitlin with the Louisiana Department of Transportation. "We had some very dry weather, as you know, over the end of the summer."
DOTD
Gitlin says people driving to the airport no longer have to wait at red lights at the I-10/Loyola Ave. interchange, nor do they need to worry about getting caught by the light at Loyola and Veterans Blvd.
"When you had to get off at the exit and go through the traffic lights, you weren't really sure how long you were going to be there, and now you know that you don't have to worry about that," he said.
It will be another couple of weeks before the flyover from the airport to the interstate headed towards New Orleans opens -- but that's currently only a one-red-light wait.
