BATON ROUGE - Commuters across Baton Rouge are raising concerns about long stretches of the unlit interstate, saying the darkness is more than an inconvenience, it is a safety hazard.

Several drivers contacted WBRZ after noticing that many street lights along I-110 and surrounding interstates are out, particularly during early morning and late afternoon hours. One commuter said the problem stood out while traveling from Main Street onto I-110 South toward the College Drive exit around 4:40 a.m.

For drivers like Austin Trusclair, the lack of lighting is alarming.

“It concerns me because there are major 18-wheelers going through,” Trusclair said. “When there is tremendous fog and no lighting, anything could happen. We are having so many casualties on the road highways and byways. It is a big safety concern for myself and all the other drivers that travel along the highways and byways of the great state of Louisiana,” Trusclair said.

DOTD say part of the darkness is tied to the ongoing I-10 widening project. Lighting between I-110 and Acadian had to be removed as crews upgrade signals and install new digital message boards that operate on the same power network.

DOTD spokesperson Rodney Mallett acknowledged the temporary outages.

“Yeah, we had to take that lighting out so we could put new lighting in,” Mallett said.

While that explains outages inside the construction zone, drivers have also reported dark conditions from Siegen Lane to the I-10/I-12 split, a stretch that falls under East Baton Rouge Parish’s responsibility.

Transportation and Drainage Director Fred Raiford said he is now aware of the issue and has personally driven the route.

“I am aware now of the concerns, particularly Siegen all the way to the split,” Raiford said.

He said an initial review shows at least five tower pole lights are out, likely due to an electrical problem.

“There are five tower pole lights that are out, it appears that it is probably going to be a wire fault,” Raiford said.

Raiford admitted the lack of lighting is noticeable.

“It is dark, I rode it this morning. When you’re coming off of Siegen, it does get your attention,” he said.

He added that fixing the issue is now a top priority for his department.

“I’m making it a priority because it needs to be addressed, and our goal is to find a contractor and get him to move forward with this as quickly as possible,” Raiford said.

For now, drivers will continue navigating dark stretches along both state construction zones and city-maintained interstates as officials work toward repairs.