BATON ROUGE — Residents along South Boulevard are raising concerns as the I-10 widening project brings construction and traffic closer to their homes.

Belinda and Evan Poche have lived on South Boulevard since the 1980s. The couple says the noise from passing cars and 18-wheelers has only grown worse over the years.

"All you hear is traffic. There's no peace," Belinda Poche said.

The construction is now adding to that frustration.

"It's just constant noise. At two in the morning you hear the trucks, and it's so close to us," Poche said.

Evelyn Yvonne Henry lives down the street from the Poches and says construction equipment has taken over the area outside her home.

"They park quite a bit of their machines here. So I get to look out every morning to a different machine," Henry said.

WBRZ's Alexis Marigny measured just over 26 inches between the back of Henry's home and the gate that fences in the construction zone.

The two families learned the work would start in February. Since then, inspectors have come out to record videos of the rooms inside their homes and the exterior in case of damage.

When asked if there was anything the state could do to make the situation right, Henry had a direct answer.

"They can buy us out of our property," Henry said.

Poche also raised concerns about what the project could mean for home values.

"Who's going to want to buy a house where they're pretty much sleeping under the bridge? I think it's going to affect the price of your house," Poche said.

Attorney Sharon Kyle, who specializes in construction and real estate development, said there is no clear standard based on proximity alone.

"There is no hard and fast rule about if they're within this many feet of the home," Kyle said.

She said the outcome depends on the specifics of each situation.

"It hinges on the degree and severity of the inconvenience or the type of damages that are caused to their property," Kyle said.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development said in a statement that it understands some property owners may be interested in having their properties acquired. However, if a project can be completed without additional land, the department does not have a mechanism to purchase the properties.

The DOTD expects to complete the widening project by 2031.