Interstate 10 in Florida

Interstate 10
Route information
Maintained by FDOT
Length:	362.057 mi[1] (582.674 km)
Existed:	1958 – present
Major junctions
West end:	I‑10 towards Mobile, AL
	I-110 in Pensacola US 27 in Tallahassee US 19 near Monticello I-75 near Lake City US 41 near Lake City US 301 near Jacksonville
East end:	I-95 in Jacksonville
Location
Counties:	Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Suwannee, Columbia, Baker, Nassau, Duval
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Florida State Highway System Interstate US SR Former Pre-1945 Toll ← SR 9B SR 10 → ← SR 7 SR 8A →

The 362 miles (583 km) of Interstate 10 in Florida is the eastern most section of the east–west 2,460.34 miles (3,959.53 km) Interstate 10 (I-10) in the Southern United States. It is also the eastern end of the Interstate Highway known as the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway, one of three coast to coast interstates, along with I-80 and I-90. The highway runs east from the Alabama border, traveling through the Panhandle of Florida, serving the major cities of Pensacola, Tallahassee, Lake City, and ending at Jacksonville, and carries the hidden Florida Department of Transportation designation of State Road 8 (SR 8).

Route description

Eastbound view of I-10 near Lake City and I-75

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.

History

Construction

I-10 west at the interchange for US 17 Alt south in Jacksonville

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

Rest area security concerns

I-10 west in Tallahassee

In 1993, a British tourist was killed at the Jefferson County Rest Area in a botched burglary by teens.^[4][5] As a result, Florida rest stops were either patrolled or closed for at least two years when lawmakers approved cut-backs.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.

Exit list

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Old exit[3]	New exit	Destinations	Notes
Escambia		0.000	0.000			I‑10 west – Mobile	Alabama state line (Perdido River)
		1.1[9]	1.8	Inspection station (eastbound only)
		3.4[9]	5.5	Weigh station
		4.4[9]	7.1	State of Florida welcome center (eastbound only)
		5.523	8.888	1	5	US 90 Alt. (SR 10)
	Pine Forest	7.092	11.413	2	7	SR 297 (Pine Forest Road) – Pensacola NAS, Perdido Key	Signed as exits 7A (south) and 7B (north) eastbound
	Brent / Ensley	10.270	16.528	3	10	US 29 (Pensacola Boulevard / SR 95) – Pensacola, Cantonment	Signed as exits 10A (south) and 10B (north)
		12.422	19.991	4	12	I-110 south (SR 8A) – Pensacola, Pensacola Beach, Airport	Exit 6 on I-110; Northern terminus of I-110
	Ferry Pass	12.928	20.806	5	13	SR 291 (Davis Highway)
		16.495	26.546	6	17	US 90 (SR 10A) – Pensacola, Pace
Escambia Bay		16.549– 19.166[9]	26.633– 30.845	Escambia Bay Bridge
Santa Rosa		21.700	34.923	7	22	SR 281 north / SR 281 south – Milton, Gulf Breeze
		25.946	41.756	8	26	CR 191 – Milton, Bagdad
		27.158– 27.747[9]	43.707– 44.654	Bridge over Blackwater River
		28.415	45.730	9	28	CR 89 – Milton
		30.2[9]	48.6	Rest area
		31.265	50.316	10	31	SR 87 – Fort Walton Beach, Milton, Navarre
Okaloosa		45.072	72.536	11	45	CR 189 – Holt
	Crestview	56.300	90.606	12	56	SR 85 – Crestview, Niceville
		60.0[9]	96.6	Rest area
Walton	Eglin AFB	69.482	111.820	13	70	SR 285 – Niceville, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field
	DeFuniak Springs	84.588	136.131	14	85	US 331 (SR 83) – DeFuniak Springs, Freeport
Holmes	Ponce de Leon	96.018	154.526	15	96	SR 81 – Ponce de Leon	Rest area in southeast corner
Washington		104.038	167.433	16	104	CR 279 – Caryville
Holmes	Bonifay	111.685	179.740	17	112	SR 79 – Bonifay, Panama City Beach
Washington	Chipley	119.680	192.606	18	120	SR 77 – Chipley, Panama City
Jackson		129.833	208.946	19	130	US 231 (SR 75) – Cottondale, Panama City
		133.2[9]	214.4	Rest area
	Marianna	136.441	219.581	20	136	SR 276 – Marianna
		142.126	228.730	21	142	SR 71 – Marianna, Blountstown
		152.041	244.686	22	152	SR 69 – Grand Ridge, Blountstown
		155.6[9]	250.4	Weigh station
		158.011	254.294	23	158	CR 286 – Sneads
Apalachicola River		160.061– 161.220[9]	257.593– 259.458	Dewey M. Johnson Bridge
Gadsden		161.30[9]	259.59	Rest area
		165.729	266.715	24	166	CR 270A – Chattahoochee
		174.093	280.176	25	174	SR 12 – Quincy, Gretna, Greensboro
		180.963	291.232	26	181	SR 267 – Quincy
	Midway	191.949	308.912	27	192	US 90 (SR 10) – Midway, Quincy, Tallahassee
Ochlockonee River		193.569– 193.798[9]	311.519– 311.888	Bridge
Leon		194.3[9]	312.7	Rest area
	Tallahassee	195.731	314.999	28	196	SR 263 (Capital Circle Northwest) – Regional Airport
		199.010	320.276	29	199	US 27 (Monroe Street / SR 63) – State Capitol
		202.678	326.179	30	203	US 319 / SR 61 (Thomasville Road / Capital Circle Northeast / SR 261)
		208.570	335.661	31	209	US 90 (SR 10) – Tallahassee, Monticello	Signed as exits 209A (west) and 209B (east)
Jefferson		216.737	348.804	32	217	SR 59
		225.055	362.191	33	225	US 19 (Florida-Georgia Parkway / SR 57) – Monticello, Perry, Thomasville
		232.849	374.734	34	233	CR 257
		234.8[9]	377.9	Rest area
Madison		241.217	388.201	35	241	US 221 (SR 55) – Greenville, Perry
		251.520	404.782	36	251	SR 14 – Madison, Perry
		258.106	415.381	37	258	SR 53 – Madison
		261.771	421.280	38	262	CR 255 – Lee
		263.3[9]	423.7	Weigh station
		264.9[9]	426.3	Rest area
Suwannee River		268.142– 268.246[9]	431.533– 431.700	Bridge
Suwannee		270.6[9]	435.5	Inspection station
		274.642	441.993	39	275	US 90 (SR 10) – Live Oak, Lee
		282.770	455.074	40	283	US 129 (SR 51) – Live Oak, Jasper
		292.127	470.133	41	292	CR 137 – Wellborn
		293.4[9]	472.2	Rest area (eastbound)
Columbia		294.4[9]	473.8	Rest area (westbound)
		296.199	476.686	42	296	I-75 (SR 93) – Tampa, Valdosta	Signed as exits 296A (south) and 296B (north); exit 435 on I-75
		301.293	484.884	43	301	US 41 (SR 25 / SR 100) – Lake City, White Springs
	Lake City	303.458	488.368	44	303	US 441 (SR 47) – Lake City, Fargo
Baker		317.8[9]	511.4	Rest area
		323.827	521.149	45	324	US 90 (SR 10) – Sanderson, Olustee
		326.750	525.853	46	327	CR 229 – Sanderson, Raiford
		332.782	535.561	47	333	CR 125 – Glen St. Mary
	Macclenny	335.145	539.364	48	335	SR 121 – Macclenny, Lake Butler
		336.312	541.242	49	336	SR 228 – Macclenny, Maxville
Nassau	No major junctions
Duval		343.879	553.420	50	343	US 301 (SR 200) – Baldwin, Starke
		350.370	563.866		350	SR 23 south (Cecil Commerce Center Parkway)
	Whitehouse	352.096	566.644	51	351	Chaffee Road (CR 115C) – Whitehouse
	Marietta					Hammond Boulevard	To replace Cahoon Road exit late 2015
		356.269	573.359	52	355	Marietta (Cahoon Road)	Right-in/right-out; planned to be closed and replaced with Hammond Boulevard interchange, farther west[10]
	Jacksonville	356.838	574.275	53	356	I-295 (Beltway / SR 9A) – Daytona Beach, Savannah	Exit 21 on I-295
		357.910	576.000	54	357	SR 103 (Lane Avenue)
		359.185	578.052	55	358	SR 111 (Cassat Avenue / Edgewood Avenue)
		359.895	579.195	56	359	Luna Street to Lenox Avenue / Highway Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		360.773	580.608	57	360	SR 129 (McDuff Avenue)
		361.046	581.047	58	361	US 17 south / SR 228 west (Roosevelt Boulevard / SR 15 south) – NAS Jax	West end of US 17 / SR 15 / SR 228 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		361.642	582.006	59	362	Stockton Street - Riverside
		362.057	582.674			I-95 / US 17 north / SR 228 east (SR 9 / SR 15 north) – Jax Beaches, Daytona Beach, Downtown Jacksonville, Savannah	I-95 exit 351B
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Unopened

References

1. Florida Department of Transportation. "FDOT Interchange Report" (PDF). Retrieved October 4, 2007.
2. "Florida's Interstates: A Half Century of Progress". Retrieved 4 October 2014.
3. "Florida's Interstate Exit Numbers- I-10". Florida Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
4. "Orlando Sentinel: Articles about Rest stop". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
5. Crist: Appeal Denied in British Tourist's I-10 Rest Stop Murder
6. "Tourist Killed in Florida, Prompting New Patrols," by Larry Rohter (New York Times; September 15, 1993) retrieved July 5, 2010
7. "Highway rest areas no place to let your guard down," by Sofia Santana (South Florida Sun-Sentinel; May 30, 2008) retrieved December 30, 2008
8. Aerial Tour Of Panhandle Shows Devastation - Orlando News Story - WESH Orlando
9. FDOT straight line diagrams, accessed March 2014
10. Interstate 10 interchange at Marietta/Hammond (I-10; North Florida project)

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• Media related to Interstate 10 in Florida at Wikimedia Commons
• I-10 North Florida (FDOT Construction Projects between Lake City and Jacksonville)
• Interstate 10 Index -- Florida(AARoads.com)