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Mississippi/Louisiana Roadtrip(s)

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Magyar

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Oct 21, 2004, 12:36:32 PM10/21/04
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I guess I should get around to posting this before I forget what I saw
completely.

Monday - (est.)600 mile loop from Baton Rouge to Greenwood, Ms. (to
participate in a meeting sponsored by these folks:
http://www.blueshighway.org/bha.htm)

Left Baton Rouge at 5 AM following this route: Sidestreets through the LSU
campus and environs to I-10 E to I-12 E to I-55 N to I-20 W to I-220 N to
I-55 N to US 82 W to Main St. N in Greenwood, Ms (which was US 82/US 49E Ms
7 in a prior life?)

I saw signs saying To US 98 along I-55 NB around McComb. Isn't US 98
multiplexed with I-55 on the westside of McComb?

(Unscientific observation: Morning Rush Hour Traffic seemed to be worse on
SB I-55 going into Jackson than NB I-55 into Jackson [mind you I skipped
I-55 between I-20 and I-220])

The multicolored (or rainbow, or whatever you'd like to call them) business
route sign assemblies are still standing in Greenwood
(http://www.roadfan.com/Mississippi/gwood4.JPG - Photo from 1999).

Left Greenwood at 1 PM following this route: Main St. S to US 82 W, sidetrip
into Moorhead via MS 3 S then N, US 82 W to US 61 S, sidetrip into Rolling
Fork, Ms, US 61 S to I-110 S to La 73 W to Nicholson Dr. S back to LSU.

Sidetrips into Moorhead & Rolling Fork were for blues related photos

Plenty of construction along US 61 from Port Gibson all the way south to
just inside the Louisiana border. Mississippi has the most peculiar way of
widening
(I think that was what they were doing) US 61. Build a new parallel road,
shift all traffic to new road, tear up old road (which in most cases was to
the west of the new road).

(If the following is old news, my apologies) Mississippi has truncated US 98
back to the junction of US 61/84/98 east of Natchez. While there are now
signs for US 65 at the junction of US 61 and 84 inside Natchez. (this wasn't
the case the last time I went through Natchez in 1999).

Noted Business US 61 & Bypass US 61 signs in and around St. Francisville (if
I haven't mentioned this before)

Bailed I-110 just before the junction with I-10 due to a traffic jam (at 7
PM!)

------
Also had the opportunity back on Saturday to go a field trip from LSU to New
Orleans (looking at "Hazardous Landscapes through Chemical Alley & New
Orleans). Route was LA 30 SE to I-10 E to US 51 S to US 61 S, sidetrip to
Bonnet Carre, La 48 E to I-310 N to I-10 E, another sidetrip to Kenner
(several streets that I can't recall), back to I-10 E, then back to various
streets in New Orleans as we "visited" the Metairie Ridge (natural levee of
the Mississippi River), Pumping Station #6, the old Thompson Hayward Plant,
Fontainebleau Neighborhood, Westend/Lakeview (we stopped just east of the
Harbor/Marina to have lunch along the lake shore), wiggled our way east that
we ended up back on I-10 (east of Lakefront Airport) east to I-510 S to US
90 E to Bayou Sauvage, then back west to the Almonaster-Michoud Industrial
District, past the old Agriculture St. Landfill, through the By-Water
District, then (near Esplanade Ave.) we were back on I-10 W heading back to
Baton Rouge.

--
Sandor Gulyas
Graduate Student - Louisiana St. University
Dept. of Geography & Anthropology

"But when them bright lights go down
Big city ain't my town
Oh' I just want to go home"
-- C.C. Adcock (from Done Most Everything)


Scott O. Kuznicki

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Oct 21, 2004, 7:40:30 PM10/21/04
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Magyar <sgu...@lsu.edu> posted:

> Plenty of construction along US 61 from Port Gibson all the way south to
just inside the Louisiana border. Mississippi has the most peculiar way of
widening (I think that was what they were doing) US 61. Build a new
parallel road, shift all traffic to new road, tear up old road (which in
most cases was to the west of the new road).

In what way is this peculiar? What is the method you normally observe?

When you say "build a new parallel road" do you mean both carriageways on
the new parallel alignment, or just one carriageway? Is the old roadbed
being reused in any way?


--
Scott Kuznicki
Dedicated Highway Enthusiast
Driving Enthusiast, '03 525i 5-speed
Civil (Traffic) Engineer


Magyar

unread,
Oct 21, 2004, 8:37:58 PM10/21/04
to
"Scott O. Kuznicki" <scottk...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:NNXdd.436663$Fg5.366916@attbi_s53...

> Magyar <sgu...@lsu.edu> posted:
>
> > Plenty of construction along US 61 from Port Gibson all the way south to
> just inside the Louisiana border. Mississippi has the most peculiar way of
> widening (I think that was what they were doing) US 61. Build a new
> parallel road, shift all traffic to new road, tear up old road (which in
> most cases was to the west of the new road).
>
> In what way is this peculiar? What is the method you normally observe?

Two lane road gets a new parallel allignment and becomes a 4 lane (divided
if need be) highway and ODOT moves on (they'll pave the old road if needed
beforehand).

> When you say "build a new parallel road" do you mean both carriageways on
> the new parallel alignment, or just one carriageway? Is the old roadbed
> being reused in any way?

I frankly could not tell what was going on with the old roadbeds. In some
cases, the old roadbed was left as is and abandoned (I saw plenty of
examples of that along US 61 between Vicksburg and US 82), some cases it
looked as if the old roadbed was torn out and grass was growing in it's
place, and other cases the old roadbed was torn out or in the process of
being torn out, so you'd see a dirt path with the occasional earth mover
(either sitting or working depending on the location)

So to answer your first question, just one carriageway (I believe).

> --
> Scott Kuznicki
> Dedicated Highway Enthusiast
> Driving Enthusiast, '03 525i 5-speed
> Civil (Traffic) Engineer

Froggie

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Oct 21, 2004, 8:47:13 PM10/21/04
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> I saw signs saying To US 98 along I-55 NB around McComb. Isn't US 98
> multiplexed with I-55 on the westside of McComb?

I believe so.

> Plenty of construction along US 61 from Port Gibson all the way south to
> just inside the Louisiana border. Mississippi has the most peculiar way of
> widening (I think that was what they were doing) US 61. Build a new
> parallel road, shift all traffic to new road, tear up old road (which in
> most cases was to the west of the new road).

I don't think I'd call that peculiar, as I've seen the same approach
in several other states.

> (If the following is old news, my apologies) Mississippi has truncated US 98
> back to the junction of US 61/84/98 east of Natchez. While there are now
> signs for US 65 at the junction of US 61 and 84 inside Natchez. (this wasn't
> the case the last time I went through Natchez in 1999).

Actually, for years US 98 has officially ended at US 84 in Bude,
rather than US 61 in the Natchez area. MDOT has just been slow to
remove the signs.

Froggie | Reporting from Liverpool, NY |
http://www.ajfroggie.com/roads/

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