Anytime there is an accident on I-10 near the Atchafalaya bridge, you can expect that traffic delays will follow. Access to the bridge and the surrounding access points is limited despite efforts at expansion. An example from last year demonstrates this, as reported by The Advocate.
An 18-wheeler overturned its load and slowed down traffic on I-10 West before Henderson near the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge. The overturned vehicle caused the traffic to reduce to one lane while crews worked to recover the vehicle from the ditch.
Congestion stretched back for two miles in the crash. The week prior, a similar crash happened on I-10 East. That crash caused heavy delays for hours.
It is unknown if the driver of the truck sustained any injuries, nor was there any information released about why the truck overturned. Images of the crash show that it happened on a straightaway.
We can consider it fortunate that the accident did not occur on the bridge itself, as what happened in another trucking accident last week when a truck fell off near the Whiskey Bay exit and caused damage that will require road crews to close down lanes at night to fix it.