1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering facts for kids

Imagine a huge puzzle where all the pieces are mixed up and don't quite fit together. That's a bit like how Louisiana's road system was before 1955! In that year, Louisiana passed a new law to fix its state highway system. The goal was to organize roads better based on how important they were for travel. This new system gave roads clear, new numbers, making it much easier to understand where they went.

How Louisiana's Roads Got Their First Numbers

Road numbers first appeared in Louisiana in 1921. Back then, 98 main routes were created. The very first roads, like LA 1 and LA 2, followed popular old travel paths. For example, LA 1 was part of the Jefferson Highway, and LA 2 followed the Old Spanish Trail.

More roads were added over time. By 1926, there were 162 routes, and by 1929, there were 490! During the time of Governor Huey Long, even more roads were added, reaching over 1300 by 1930. Some roads even had "half" numbers, like LA 99½, which was a bit confusing!

Before 1955, the system became very messy. Roads were numbered in the order they were added, not by where they were or how important they were. Big main roads were often split into many different numbers. This made it hard for drivers to follow a route, as the numbers didn't always make sense for traffic.

Sometimes, if a road was changed a little, the old part kept its number but got a letter added, like LA 7D. This was to show it was a bypassed section.

Not all numbers were for roads that actually existed. Some were just "projected" on maps, meaning they were planned but not yet built. Sometimes, roads were only improved "if funds were available." This meant some roads were just lines on paper or didn't quite match their official descriptions. For example, LA 33 was never fully completed as planned.

Why Louisiana Renumbered Its Highways

After World War II, people wanted to improve Louisiana's disorganized road system. Finally, in 1955, a big highway bill was passed. This new law completely changed how state highways were classified and numbered. The main reasons were to:

• Organize roads by how important they were for travel.
• Fix the confusing numbering system.
• Give main travel routes clear, unified numbers.

Louisiana still has a very large state highway system. Many roads that would be managed by local towns in other states are still state roads here. This is partly because a plan to reduce the number of state-maintained roads in 1955 didn't happen.

The 1955 renumbering used a new A-B-C system:

• A routes were the most important, usually with one or two digits (like LA 1 to LA 185).
• B routes were secondary roads, mostly three-digit numbers below 300.
• C routes were farm-to-market roads, numbered from 300 up to 1241.

A cool thing about the new system was that odd numbers were given to roads that mostly run north-south, and even numbers were for roads that mostly run east-west. This is similar to how US and Interstate highways are numbered. Before 1955, it was often the opposite!

The new road numbers officially started on June 30, 1955.

How New Roads Are Numbered Today

This sign helps drivers find I-59 by telling them to stay on I-12 past the exit for LA 59.

After 1955, new state roads usually got numbers starting with 3xxx. Around the year 2000, new roads also started getting 12xx numbers, starting from 1242. If a road is removed from the system, its number isn't used again for a new road. Instead, a new 12xx number is given.

Even though 3xxx roads are newer, some are very important and busy. For example, LA 3132 in Shreveport is a major highway connecting I-20 and I-49. It's built like a big interstate highway!

Since 1955, state highway numbers are not allowed to be the same as US highway numbers. However, they can be the same as Interstate highway numbers. This can sometimes be confusing! For instance, LA 59 and I-59 are only about 20 miles apart and both cross I-12. To help drivers, the Louisiana Department of Transportation has put up special signs to make sure people don't confuse LA 59 with I-59.

What Are "Hyphenated" Routes?

One unique thing about Louisiana's state highway system is its "hyphenated" routes. These were created in 1955. They are often short local streets in cities and towns that the state decided to maintain.

Instead of giving each short street its own number, they were grouped together as "sections" of a larger state highway. These sections are shown by a number after a hyphen. For example, LA 560-3 is section 3 of LA 560. This was done because many of these streets were connected or very close to each other. If they all had the same number without the hyphen, it would be very confusing!

Over the years, many of these hyphenated routes have been given back to local control, meaning the state no longer maintains them. For example, the LA 466 family in Gretna originally had 17 sections. Most of these are now local roads, and the one remaining section is just called LA 466.

Hyphenated routes are usually short local streets. They often don't seem to serve a big state-level purpose. Many are dead-end roads or residential streets. Most of them are found in cities, but a few are in rural areas. All hyphenated routes were part of the original secondary road system (numbers 300 to 1241). You won't find any 3000-series hyphenated routes because those numbers were added later.