On Friday, Oct. 2, drivers heading west on LA 30 will lose their left turn onto the I-10 eastbound on-ramp. Ten days later, drivers heading east on LA 30 lose their dedicated left turn onto I-10 westbound. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development says both patterns will stay in place through Friday, Nov. 13. After that, the three roundabouts at the Gonzales interchange are expected to open in late November or early December, weather permitting.
DOTD calls this the final stage of the project. That is good news for anyone who drives this stretch every day. The phase also comes about six months after the project was supposed to be finished, and the cost of that extra time has fallen hardest on the businesses clustered around the interchange.
What changes, and on which day
DOTD's Sept. 29, 2026 update lays out two changes as crews remove the remaining concrete and finish the roundabouts at the I-10 ramps.
- Starting Friday, Oct. 2: The left-turn lane from westbound LA 30 to the I-10 eastbound on-ramp closes. To reach I-10 eastbound, keep going west to the roundabout at Robert Wilson Road and St. Landry Avenue, make a U-turn, and come back east on LA 30 to the on-ramp.
- Starting Monday, Oct. 12: The left-turn lane from eastbound LA 30 to I-10 westbound closes. DOTD will turn the existing eastbound through lane into a temporary left-turn lane, so you can still reach I-10 westbound. The right through lane stays open.
- Through Friday, Nov. 13: Both temporary setups are expected to stay in place.
The first change adds the most driving, because it sends eastbound I-10 traffic through the St. Landry roundabout and back. The second change keeps your route the same, but with one fewer through lane. DOTD says to expect delays, especially at peak times, and to allow extra travel time.
How the finish line kept moving
The detours make more sense once you see how the schedule has changed. Each estimate below replaced the one before it.
- March 8, 2024: DOTD announced the groundbreaking for three roundabouts, named Barriere Construction as the contractor, and projected completion in spring 2026.
- Around the start of work: The Advocate described a $29 million, two-year project expected to finish by April 2026.
- June 2025: The Gonzales Weekly Citizen reported that DOTD still expected completion in mid-2026, and noted conflicts with underground utilities during the early phases.
- Sept. 7, 2026: WAFB reported that DOTD could not give a firm completion date.
- Sept. 29, 2026: DOTD said the roundabouts should be working by late November or early December, with the whole project done in late January. The Weekly Citizen confirmed the year as 2027.
The reporting doesn't say the utility conflicts caused the whole delay, and DOTD hasn't published a reason for the new date. One contract detail stands out. WAFB reported in September that if DOTD has to enforce liquidated damages, the contractor could owe up to $12,000 a day.
The late January date also covers more than most drivers will notice. DOTD says work will continue after the roundabouts open, so the day traffic starts moving through them and the official end of the project are about two months apart.
Why the state rebuilt this interchange
The redesign replaces traffic signals at the I-10 eastbound and westbound ramps. DOTD says the goals are steadier traffic flow, less congestion, fewer conflict points, and fewer crashes. The Advocate reported DOTD's estimate of about 24,000 vehicles a day through the interchange, rising to about 30,000 by 2042. Earlier Advocate coverage quoted DOTD spokesperson Rodney Mallett citing 513 crashes on the stretch from 2010 to 2012. He also cited a study projecting 64% fewer conflict points with the roundabout design.
Commuters aren't the only ones on this road. DOTD describes LA 30 as a commercial, industrial, and freight corridor linking the interstate to the industrial areas in Geismar and along the Mississippi River. On a weekday, the trucks headed to those plants share the interchange with shoppers going to Tanger Outlets and Cabela's and with visitors headed down South St. Landry Avenue to the parish-owned Lamar-Dixon Expo Center. The project had to keep all of that traffic moving while the interchange was rebuilt underneath it, which is why DOTD has done the work in phases.
Where the delay has landed
For drivers, the extra months have meant longer trips. For the businesses next to the work, they've meant lost customers.
In June 2026, WBRZ reported that the signal near Tanger and Cabela's had been removed and that both shopping areas could only be reached by right-turn-in, right-turn-out access. That station also said in the same report that traffic was already moving better. A shopper can find that layout easy to drive through and still give up on reaching a particular store.
WAFB's Sept. 7, 2026 report gave a fuller picture of what owners say they are seeing:
"Collectively, the businesses around there, we had kind of guesstimated that there was damn near $20 million in lost business."
That estimate comes from local business owner Wesley Robert. It reflects his group's informal tally, not an audited figure, and Robert told WAFB that several businesses have closed. In the same report, a public relations firm for Tanger Outlets said that while traffic flow is expected to improve, the project is creating "very real challenges." The mall has cut its hours in recent months, and employees told WAFB their stores' sales were down 30% to 60% for the previous month. Muhammad Khan, whose brother runs the Mooyah Burger off LA 30, said foot and vehicle traffic were both down about 43% to 45%.
Earlier Advocate coverage described similar problems along the corridor. Access to the Marathon station was blocked during congestion, and Boots Etc. Factory Direct Western Wear saw fewer customers. Don's Seafood is also among the businesses named in local reporting on the stretch.
Seen this way, the jump from a spring 2026 target to a late January 2027 finish is more than a scheduling footnote. It added close to a year of reduced access for the businesses that sit around the interchange.
The weeks between now and the roundabouts
The next seven weeks overlap with one of the area's biggest event weekends. Boots on the Bayou is at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 24–25, 2026. That's well inside the Oct. 2 to Nov. 13 window. And the St. Landry and Robert Wilson roundabout, where DOTD is sending westbound drivers to U-turn for I-10 eastbound, sits on the same road that leads to the expo center. The venue's event page lists dates and ticket information but no traffic guidance for the construction. No separate advisory had been published as of this writing.
Drivers who know the stretch can plan around three facts:
- If you're headed to I-10 eastbound from the east side of the interchange, plan on the trip west to the St. Landry and Robert Wilson roundabout and back starting Oct. 2.
- If you're headed to I-10 westbound from the west side, your left turn is still there after Oct. 12. It just runs out of what used to be a through lane, with only the right lane continuing straight.
- The Tanger and Cabela's shopping areas are still open, through right-turn-in, right-turn-out access.
If Nov. 13 holds, the temporary patterns end then, and the roundabouts should open around Thanksgiving or the first days of December, weather permitting. DOTD's own wording is careful. It calls these dates "anticipated." The project has already moved its finish date more than once, so treat any single date as a target.
If you're planning a move or a listing around Gonzales this fall and want to know how the LA 30 timeline affects showings, closings, or move-in day near the interchange, Jodie B. Strain is glad to talk it through with you. Let's Connect.
