JENNINGS, La. (KLFY) – Contractors are putting up cable barriers along Interstate 10 in Jeff Davis Parish and a small section of Calcasieu Parish.

The $7 million project began in April. The cable barriers are being installed from Jennings to Iowa.

The cable barriers are important safety features for the interstate. 

They’re meant to minimize the risk of serious injury or death. They’re also meant to reduce serious damage to your car if you hit them.

“If you were to cross over the median you’re going to hit that cable barrier and kind of reflect back into your lane,” said Tammy York, the DOTD District 7 Public Information Officer. “You’re not going to cross that median. You’re not going to have those cross-median accidents.”

This test video from the Gibraltar Company shows a pickup truck going 62 miles an hour crash into a cable barrier. The barrier prevents the truck from going through to the other side.

“We know people hit them because we have to repair them and so we know that they’re doing their job that people get to drive away safely and so that right there is why we’re doing what we do,” York said.

Drivers like Clarence Simon of Welsh think the cable barriers are a good idea.

“I think that’s safe. I mean, we need safety out here, without safety we ain’t nothing so yeah I think that’s a good job,” he said.

The DOTD is installing hundreds of miles of cable barriers on interstates throughout Louisiana. The Jeff Davis Parish cable barrier project should be completed in a few months.

The DOTD said it has already installed 262 miles of cable barrier. Crews will install another 150 miles this year. Another 310 miles of barrier will be installed after December 2019.