A short history of the La. state hwy system
Justin Priola
What I do know is that sometime in the 1920's the state began to
assume maintenance of roads, primarily farm-to-market roads in rural
areas. By 1929, the state had a rather sizeable highway system, and
all roads were numbered (with the exception of the Airline Highway
between N.O. and B.R.—it had no number at the time). Already, numbers
went well into the 13xx and 14xx range. Plus there were some "C-1xxx"
routes that I have yet to figure out. (Couldn't be ‘county' routes,
as we have parishes here in La.)
The road numbering itself was very haphazard, to say the least. In
poring over maps I have yet to determine if there was a true system or
not. Many major intercity routes had several different state highway
numbers—that is, there often wasn't one number to follow from point A
to point B. The only order I see in the old system is that some of
the single-digit routes followed the more important auto trails. For
example, old LA 1 followed the Jefferson Highway, old 2 the Old
Spanish Trail (roughly present US 90, but also present LA 182/old US
90), and old 4 the Dixie Overland Highway (present US 80).
When the US highways were signed in Louisiana in the late 20's, they
were cosigned (like GA does today) with the corresponding state route
they replaced. At least I believe they were, based on what I have
found. I have seen a photo of US 90/old LA 2 cosigned in the Morgan
City area, and the old parish maps from the early 30's that I have
seen show cosigned US and state highways.
The state routes were totally renumbered in 1954-55, due to their
chaotic nature – essentially the same reason why FL renumbered its
routes. The 1954-55 Annual Report of the La. Dept. of Highways says
that the routes were renumbered to create numerical continuity along
major traveled routes. It sites present LA 1 as an example, saying
that before the renumbering, the route from Shreveport to Grand Isle
had eight separate numbers. (Of course, if you ask me, LA 1 is
essentially five or six separate roads tied together. Though I don't
mind; I think a long ‘SR 1' is a unique touch that not a great many
states can claim.) There were only two routes that I know of that
kept their pre-renumbering numbers – parts of 15 and 37.
The original state shield was a diamond with a pelican, the letters
‘L' and ‘A' on either side of the pelican, and the route number below
the pelican. There could have been an older shield, but I know of no
such thing. (I'd love to know how the La. DOH sign shop squeezed the
four-digit numbers into the sign!) The second-generation shield was
a black outline of the state with black numbers on a white background
(the one on the 1940's state shields site) and existed from around
1940 to about 1960. That is the year of the DOH Annual Report in
which I first saw photos of the present green state shape sign. It
took a few years to replace all the outline signs with the present
design.
I know this is an unpopular position among some roadgeeks, but I like
our present state shield. It has the state shape, can easily
accommodate our four-digit SR numbers, and most distinctively, is
green as opposed to traditional B&W SR shields used in most states.
The trouble is that the shield doesn't get any respect. The rural
residents of our state sometimes like to use them for target practice.
Some SR signs are posted that have obviously been in the field for
30+ years, and they look it. The signs that the DOTD have recently
posted use black on white directional banners instead of the older
white on green, emphasizing the white in the shield. With our
plethora of state highways, there are many roads to sign, and the DOTD
hasn't the resources to sign them all first class. Overall, however, I
think it is a fine shield.
Present numbering is cluster based, as far as I can tell. The first
17 routes or so are spread across the state in a rough grid pattern,
though there are exceptions (1 and 5). US routes no longer have a
companion SR. US highway numbers are not duplicated (except for 63,
but 63 is entirely cosigned with 167), though interstate numbers can
be.
Beyond 17, the routes beyond that are clustered regionally for the
most part, but this is not strictly adhered to. Close clustering
becomes obvious past the number 55 or so, and very much so as one gets
into the 1xx numbers. Clustering is most evident in numbers above
300, up to 1241. After that, the state applies the remainder of the
1200s willy-nilly (these seem to be recent acquisitions by the DOTD)
and the 3000 series is scattered.
There are three sets of numbers: 1-299 (used only up to 191),
300-1250's (and up, theoretically) and the 3000 series. These sets do
not correspond to the state road classification system (primary,
secondary, farm-to-market). My belief is that the 3000 series was not
original to the 1955 renumbering, but were add-ons from that point.
The first 3000s I believe were for the first "superhighway" segments –
for example the Westbank Expressway was originally LA 3019, and the
Eastern Expressway (IH 10 in N.O. East) was LA 3021. The only
freeway-grade SRs in La. were and are of the 3000 series – LA 3052
Raceland (now part of US 90 frwy), LA 3026 Pineville (now the US 167
frwy), LA 3139 (Earhart Expwy), and LA 3132 (Shreveport Inner Loop
Expwy). However, most 3000 series roads are regular surface roads.
Some have been true add-ons since the 1950's; others were renumbered –
usually former "hyphenated" routes. For example LA 3154 in Harahan
(west N.O. suburbs) was formerly LA 611-12.
All non-state roads not maintained by municipalities are under parish
jurisdiction. Few are signed in the traditional manner. I know of
only 3 parishes where I have seen blue pentagon signs – St. Bernard
(here and there), Avoyelles (only one sign I have seen), and Madison
(where they are at least signed from IH 20). I think PRs are also
signed from IH 12 in Livingston Parish. Most parish roads are marked
on regular street signs. In rural areas in particular, you will find
many roads with names like "PR 6-38."
I apologize for the length of this post; however, there is a lot of
information. If anyone has questions, comments, corrections, need for
clarifications, etc., just reply to this post and I will respond ASAP.
Justin Priola
New Orleans, LA
Steve Riner
>poring over maps I have yet to determine if there was a true system or
>not. Many major intercity routes had several different state highway
>numbers—that is, there often wasn't one number to follow from point A
>to point B. The only order I see in the old system is that some of
>the single-digit routes followed the more important auto trails. For
>example, old LA 1 followed the Jefferson Highway, old 2 the Old
>Spanish Trail (roughly present US 90, but also present LA 182/old US
>90), and old 4 the Dixie Overland Highway (present US 80).
>
fractional route I found, but it was rather strange (I don't remember it being
associated with a LA-99).
Steve Riner
Pueblo West, CO (formerly Twin Cities, MN 1977-2002)
Explore Minnesota Highways at:
http://www.steve-riner.com/mnhighways/mnhome.htm
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I
Presnwap
this newsgroup.
-stephen
--
http://www.angelfire.com/super2/gantrification
I-49 South, Lafayette to New Orleans
"Justin Priola" <jpr...@msn.com> wrote in message
news:78df7de2.0305...@posting.google.com...
> The first numbering of Louisiana highways I am not entirely clear on.
> What I do know is that sometime in the 1920's the state began to
> assume maintenance of roads, primarily farm-to-market roads in rural
> areas. By 1929, the state had a rather sizeable highway system, and
> all roads were numbered (with the exception of the Airline Highway
> between N.O. and B.R.-it had no number at the time). Already, numbers
> went well into the 13xx and 14xx range. Plus there were some "C-1xxx"
> routes that I have yet to figure out. (Couldn't be 'county' routes,
> as we have parishes here in La.)
>
> The road numbering itself was very haphazard, to say the least. In
> poring over maps I have yet to determine if there was a true system or
> not. Many major intercity routes had several different state highway
> numbers-that is, there often wasn't one number to follow from point A
> to point B. The only order I see in the old system is that some of
> the single-digit routes followed the more important auto trails. For
> example, old LA 1 followed the Jefferson Highway, old 2 the Old
> Spanish Trail (roughly present US 90, but also present LA 182/old US
> 90), and old 4 the Dixie Overland Highway (present US 80).
>
> When the US highways were signed in Louisiana in the late 20's, they
> were cosigned (like GA does today) with the corresponding state route
> they replaced. At least I believe they were, based on what I have
> found. I have seen a photo of US 90/old LA 2 cosigned in the Morgan
> City area, and the old parish maps from the early 30's that I have
> seen show cosigned US and state highways.
>
> The state routes were totally renumbered in 1954-55, due to their
> chaotic nature - essentially the same reason why FL renumbered its
> routes. The 1954-55 Annual Report of the La. Dept. of Highways says
> that the routes were renumbered to create numerical continuity along
> major traveled routes. It sites present LA 1 as an example, saying
> that before the renumbering, the route from Shreveport to Grand Isle
> had eight separate numbers. (Of course, if you ask me, LA 1 is
> essentially five or six separate roads tied together. Though I don't
> mind; I think a long 'SR 1' is a unique touch that not a great many
> states can claim.) There were only two routes that I know of that
> kept their pre-renumbering numbers - parts of 15 and 37.
> The first 3000s I believe were for the first "superhighway" segments -
> for example the Westbank Expressway was originally LA 3019, and the
> Eastern Expressway (IH 10 in N.O. East) was LA 3021. The only
> freeway-grade SRs in La. were and are of the 3000 series - LA 3052
> Raceland (now part of US 90 frwy), LA 3026 Pineville (now the US 167
> frwy), LA 3139 (Earhart Expwy), and LA 3132 (Shreveport Inner Loop
> Expwy). However, most 3000 series roads are regular surface roads.
> Some have been true add-ons since the 1950's; others were renumbered -
> usually former "hyphenated" routes. For example LA 3154 in Harahan
> (west N.O. suburbs) was formerly LA 611-12.
>
> All non-state roads not maintained by municipalities are under parish
> jurisdiction. Few are signed in the traditional manner. I know of
> only 3 parishes where I have seen blue pentagon signs - St. Bernard
SPUI
> The first numbering of Louisiana highways I am not entirely clear on.
> What I do know is that sometime in the 1920's the state began to
> assume maintenance of roads, primarily farm-to-market roads in rural
> areas. By 1929, the state had a rather sizeable highway system, and
> all roads were numbered (with the exception of the Airline Highway
> went well into the 13xx and 14xx range. Plus there were some "C-1xxx"
> routes that I have yet to figure out. (Couldn't be 'county' routes,
> as we have parishes here in La.)
>
--
Dan Moraseski - 15th grade at MIT
http://web.mit.edu/spui/www/ - FL NJ MA route logs and exit lists
Justin Priola
> Are you new to MTR? I thought Andy Jung and I were the only Louisianians in
> this newsgroup.
>
> -stephen
> --
> http://www.angelfire.com/super2/gantrification
> I-49 South, Lafayette to New Orleans
Yes, I am new, but I have been a "passive bystander" for a while now.
Justin Priola
New Orleans,LA
Justin Priola
> I have a 1949 R McN atlas which shows a LA-99-1/2. That was the only
> fractional route I found, but it was rather strange (I don't remember it being
> associated with a LA-99).
> Steve Riner
> Pueblo West, CO (formerly Twin Cities, MN 1977-2002)
> Explore Minnesota Highways at:
> http://www.steve-riner.com/mnhighways/mnhome.htm
>
> Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I
Yet another Louisiana oddity. (It was not associated with a route
99.) Why the state would create a fractional route such as "99-1/2"
is beyond me.
Steve
I find US 19-1 (or was it 17-1) probably more bizarre than a fractional
route.
--
Steve Alpert
GO YANKEES!
Civil Engineering (Course 1) at MIT