BATON ROUGE — The Washington Street exit on Interstate 10 in East Baton Rouge Parish will permanently close later this month in an effort to improve safety and reduce traffic congestion.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development announced work will begin Feb. 18 with nightly closures through Feb. 22. After that, the exit will be permanently closed.

Transportation officials said the closure is designed to eliminate dangerous weaving movements that have contributed to crashes and delays along the heavily traveled corridor. Drivers coming from Interstate 110 and the Mississippi River Bridge currently must cross multiple lanes of traffic in a short distance to reach the Washington Street exit.

“It’s going to end the weaving motion,” said DOTD spokesperson Rodney Mallett. “If you’re coming from I-110 and trying to get to Washington Street, you have to cut across two or three lanes to do so. This will make it much safer for everyone traveling through that area.”

For some drivers, the change will mean adjusting long-standing routines.

Deforest Augustus has used the Washington Street exit for 20 years to reach Lee’s Car Wash on Thomas H. Delpit Drive.

“It should have been closed,” Augustus said. “It is horrible trying to get over. You’re near about to wreck trying to get over, especially when the weather’s bad.”

Melissa Babin, who also uses the exit to get home, said she will need to find a new route but believes the long-term safety improvements are worth it.

“With it being closed, I’m going to have to find a different route,” Babin said. “It’s a lot safer the way they made it, where you don’t have to cross over.”

The project will cost around $300,000.

Drivers heading to Washington Street and nearby neighborhoods will be redirected to the Highland Road and Nicholson Drive exit if traveling on I-10, or the Terrace Street exit if coming from I-110, according to DOTD.

Officials said the goal is to improve traffic flow and make the stretch of interstate safer for the thousands of drivers who travel it each day.