Shreveport to Lafayette
Wiki's Info:
Interstate 49 (abbreviated I-49) is an intrastate interstate highway located entirely within the state of Louisiana in the southern United States. Its southern terminus is in Lafayette, Louisiana, at Interstate 10 while its northern terminus is in Shreveport, Louisiana, at Interstate 20.
Route description
Major cities
* Lafayette
* Opelousas
* Alexandria
* Natchitoches
* Shreveport
I-49 begins its journey in Lafayette concurrent with U.S. Route 167 from I-10 to Opelousas at Exit 23. At Lafayette, motorists continuing southbound see the interstate highway change to U.S. 167 (Evangeline Thruway), a major thoroughfare taking travelers towards the heart of Lafayette. North of Lafayette, motorists on I-49 will parallel the ancient Mississippi river bed north of Carencro, and through Grand Coteau, just south of Opelousas.
After leaving Opelousas, I-49 traverses the relatively flat, fertile farmlands until reaching Alexandria. From there, the highway roughly follows the Red River and Louisiana 1, bypassing the historic city of Natchitoches to the west on its way to Shreveport. At Shreveport, the highway parallels a railroad line just to the east until its terminus at I-20 southwest of downtown.
History
The original plans for interstate highways in Louisiana only included Interstates 10 and 20 with no connection in between. After Interstate 55 was added in the 1950s, the state considered building a toll road to connect I-10 in southwestern Louisiana and I-20 in the northern part of the state, but later rejected the idea.
In the mid 1970s, The Federal Highway Administration approved an Interstate highway to run between I-10 and I-20, beginning at I-10 in Lafayette and ending at I-20 in Shreveport. The mileage was gained from mileage released from other highways the state did not build as well as 153 miles from a supplemental reserve.[2]
Construction of I-49 began in the early 1980s and after several delays, most of the highway was open by the early 1990s. The entire length of the 212-mile road was completed May 1, 1996 when a 16.6 mile section of highway in Alexandria named the Martin Luther King Jr. Highway was completed. The total cost of I-49's construction was about $1.38 billion.
Future
This article contains information about a planned or expected future road.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the road's construction or completion approaches and more information becomes available.
Long-term plans call for I-49 to be extended southeastward from Lafayette to New Orleans; and northward from Shreveport to Kansas City, Missouri.
Construction for the extension north is already underway in southwest Missouri, northern and southwestern Arkansas, and in northern Louisiana.
These plans may result in pieces of this interstate being disconnected. Once Arkansas and Missouri finish the Bella Vista Bypass, mentioned below, both states plan to rename I-540/U.S. 71 as I-49[3] long before construction begins across west-central Arkansas, though AASHTO has denied the designation for the Missouri portion. [1]
Louisiana
State transportation officials are currently working on plans to extend Interstate 49 to the south and east, from Lafayette to New Orleans roughly following the path of the current U.S. 90, which is at present a four-lane divided highway between the two cities. However, from Morgan City to near Raceland, U.S. 90 is an interstate-standard freeway, bypassing Houma to the north.
In the Lafayette area, the project is divided into two projects, the I-49 Connector and the rest of the interstate from the Lafayette Regional Airport to LA 88. The I-49 Connector has a record of decision and is currently in the process of formulating the Environmental Impact Study. It is planned to be a six-lane elevated freeway, passing to the right of the current Evangeline Thruway corridor, as to be closer to the Central Business District in Downtown Lafayette. The rest of the freeway from the airport to LA 88 will be an at grade six-lane freeway with a two mile segment of eight-lane elevated freeway through the suburb of Broussard.
In the immediate New Orleans area, I-49 is planned to follow the route of the U.S. 90 Business (also known locally as the Westbank Expressway) through Westwego, Gretna and across the Crescent City Connection into downtown New Orleans, ending at I-10. "Future I-49" signage is visible along U.S. 90 and U.S. 90 Business, although as of 2007, construction has yet to begin.
In addition to the southeastward extension, Louisiana officials are also working on clearing and grubbing and drainage for the new extension from Shreveport to the Arkansas line. The construction roughly parallels U.S. 71 northward from I-220. In Shreveport, I-49 is also proposed to be rerouted along Louisiana 3132/Inner Loop Expressway and concurrent with I-220 from I-20 to its proposed alignment near U.S. 71.[2] The stretch of the current I-49 between the Inner Loop and I-20 is likely to become an interstate spur.