I-10 in Florida serves the cities of Pensacola, Tallahassee, Lake City and Jacksonville, before terminating at Interstate 95. I-10 enters western Duval County and Jacksonville city limits amid wetlands near the community of Baldwin. The first citywide interchange joins US 301 with I-10 at Exit 343. Most of the 363 miles of I-10 in Florida travels through some of the least-populated areas in the state, much of which is forested.

I-10 and US 301 are both part of the Strategic Intermodal System, Florida Intrastate Highway System, and the National Highway System. Growth in travel demand is on the rise; in order for the region to accommodate this growth, improved transportation facilities are necessary within this area. The Project Development and Environment (PD&E) study will document the requirements for the preliminary design, including existing conditions, typical sections, traffic analysis, interchange modification analysis, structural analysis, right of way requirements, environmental impacts, and costs of improvements. In addition, the study will evaluate all viable alternatives and alignments and recommend reconstruction alternative(s) to address the interchange modification needs.

The study will also consider all social, environmental, and economic impacts and will set forth mitigation efforts as required by the PD&E Manual. An Interchange Modification Report (IMR), Project Development Summary Report (PDSR), and Technical Environmental Reports will be prepared to describe the analysis of various alternatives for the project. These reports will disclose the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements and state requirements that must precede the FDOT’s formal decisions to proceed with a specific improvement project. The FDOT is responsible for ensuring the availability of capacity within the transportation network to support and sustain the region’s growth.

For over 30 years, the FDOT has been master planning the necessary improvements to I-10 as well as other important roadway links within the transportation network such as I-95, I-295, and I-75. In April 2006 the FDOT District 2 finalized a master planning study for the I-10 corridor. Geographic limits of the study were the Jefferson/ Madison County Line on the west to I-295 in Jacksonville on the east. The total project length was approximately 120 miles. The study corridor was subdivided into three segments for specific analysis:

Segment 1: Jefferson/Madison County Line to I-75
Segment 2: I-75 to CR 125 (Baker County)
Segment 3: CR 125 (Baker County) to I-295 (Duval County)