UPDATED: I-10 at Texas/Louisiana Border Closed Due to Flood Waters

I heard a report a couple of days ago that the Toledo Bend Reservoir Dam is releasing at least twice as much water per second than what flows over Niagara Falls.  All that water has got to go somewhere. 

The culprit, of course, is the massive rainfall that happened last week in northeastern Texas and northwestern Louisiana.  Most county and farm to market roads that are in close proximity to the Sabine River are closed, and now, Interstate 10 has followed. The Louisiana Department of of Transportation and Development (DOTD) has shut down I-10 at the stateline at the Sabine River.

UPDATE (11:30 a.m., 3/15), Due to changing river conditions, I-10 remains open at the border, however, that could quickly change.  Long haul travel is encouraged to use I-20.

UPDATE (2 p.m.)

The Sabine River is not rising as quickly as was anticipated on I-10 at the TX/LA border, so it was reopened about noon today.  As of  1:30 pm,  the I-10 westbound lanes were closed at the LA/TX border. I-10 eastbound lanes remain open for now. US 190 is also open at the present time.

This information could change quickly in the hours to come. TxDOT is monitoring the situation and we continue to recommend truck traffic to detour to I-20. Motorists are urged to stay alert to lighted message boards concerning I-10 and detours that will be open to them for travel to and from Louisiana. Official recommendations for detours remain the same as in earlier emails should all lanes of I-10 be closed again.

As far as anticipated congestion at US 59/SL 224 in Nacogdoches: The timing on the left-hand turn traffic signal allowing traffic onto SL 224 NB has been adjusted, allowing more traffic to move through the intersection onto the loop. Officials are working on other contingency plans should they become necessary to implement due to increased traffic congestion because of possible closures on I-10.

UPDATE:  3/16, 1:15 a.m. - I-10 has been closed both east and west bound due to water over the road way.  Motorists are being advised to use I-20 as an alternate route.

The Travel Information Center off of I-10 at Orange, Texas is flooded (pictured above) and the water continues to rise.  Unfortunately, there aren't many options nearby due to closed secondary roads up and down the Sabine River corridor, so, the best option may be considering I-20 between Marshall and Shreveport.

For those traveling on I-10 from:

• El Paso take I-20 East of Van Horn
• San Antonio take I-35 North to I-20 East to Shreveport
• Houston take US 59 North to I-20 East to Shreveport
• Beaumont take US 96 North to US 69 North to US 59 North to I-20 East to Shreveport

DriveTexas.org is a great resource for keeping up to date on Texas road conditions.