Natchez - Vidalia Bridge

State Route 3127 and 3132 in Louisiana

Louisiana State Route 3127

SR-3127
Get started Donaldsonville
End Boutte
Length 42 mi
Length 68 km
Route
Donaldsonville LA-70

Boutte

State Route 3127 or LA 3127 is a state route in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The road bypasses an industrial-rural area on the west bank of the Mississippi River west of New Orleans, from Donaldsonville to Boutte. State Route 3127 is 68 kilometers long.

Travel directions

LA 3127 forms a rapid route behind the Mississippi River embankments in three parishes: St James, St John the Baptist and St Charles. The road is mostly single lane, but also has some parts that are designed as 2×2 divided highway. The road does not pass through any place and begins near Donaldsonville on LA 70 and ends at Boutte on Interstate 310, on the west side of the New Orleans metropolitan area. The road bypasses LA 18, the road over or along the Mississippi River causeway that runs through all the villages. In this region there are several large petrochemical complexes along the river. LA 3127 gives access to that.

History

State Route 18 has historically been the thoroughfare along this part of the Mississippi River across the west bank, which is actually south of the river here. The road was probably built in the second half of the 1970s as a rapid bypass of this section along the Mississippi River. The road was always prepared for 2×2 lanes. The easternmost eight miles to I-310 is believed to have been widened to 2×2 lanes in the early 1990s. In 2021, 4 kilometers of the western portion near Donaldsonville will be widened to 2×2 lanes in preparation for the construction of a large industrial complex along the Mississippi River at that location.

  • See BABYINGER for a list of Louisiana public libraries by county.

Traffic intensities

Intensities increase from west to east, from 2,000 vehicles near Donaldsonville to 9,000 vehicles at the midway point and 14,000 vehicles near I-310.

Louisiana State Route 3132

SR-3132
Get started Shreveport
End Shreveport
Length 10 mi
Length 16 km
Route
  • 70th Street
  • Walker Road
  • Jewella Avenue
  • Linwood Avenue
  • Line Avenue
  • Bert Kouns Industrial Loop
  • Flournoy Lucas Road

State Route 3132 is a state route and freeway in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The highway forms a southern bypass of the northern city of Shreveport and is 10 miles long. The highway is also called the Inner Loop Expressway.

Travel directions

State Route 3132 begins west of Shreveport at an interchange with Interstate 20, running west to Dallas and east through downtown Shreveport. Interstate 220 also begins at this point, which forms Shreveport’s northern bypass. The highway runs through the west and south of Shreveport and has 2×2 lanes with a wide median strip for its entire length. The interchange with Interstate 49 is a full stack. A little further east, the highway ends at Flournoy Lucas Road.

History

The Inner Loop was first proposed in the northwest Louisiana road program in 1969. It is not clear when the highway was built exactly, the part between I-220 and Bert Kouns Industrial Loop was probably built in the early or mid 1980s. At Line Avenue, the main carriageway was missing for some time, traffic was then directed via the entrances and exits. This main carriageway was constructed in the first half of the 1990s. It also opened the stack interchange with I-49 circa 1990. The easternmost extension to Flournoy Lucas Road opened in 2007.

Future

It is planned to extend State Route 3132 eastwards, possibly as part of Interstate 69 in Louisiana, to create a full beltway around Shreveport. In the first phase, the highway will be extended to State Route 1. A second extension requires a bridge over the Red River. The missing link to I-20 at Red Chute is approximately 15 miles long.

Traffic intensities

Every day, 45,000 vehicles drive south of I-20, increasing slightly to 46,000 vehicles west of I-49 and 39,000 vehicles east of it. At the current end at Flournoy Lucas Road there are 46,000 vehicles.

Natchez – Vidalia Bridge

Natchez-Vidalia Bridge
Spans Mississippi River
Lanes 2×2
Total length 1,282 meters
Main span 258 meters
Bridge deck height 38 meters
Opening 00-10-1940 / 00-07-1988
Traffic intensity 23,300 mvt/day
Location Map

The Natchez-Vidalia Bridge is a cantilever truss bridge in the United States, located on the border of the states of Louisiana and Mississippi. The bridge spans the Mississippi River at Natchez.

Characteristics

The Natchez-Vidalia Bridge actually consists of two parallel bridge connections. The bridges are 1,282 meters long, which makes them shorter than the bridges further south. This is because the Mississippi side in particular is somewhat hilly, so that shorter bridges are needed. The bridges have a main span of 258 meters and the bridge deck is 38 meters above the river. Both bridges have two lanes of traffic, but the southern bridge also has an emergency lane. The northern bridge is 7 meters wide, the southern bridge is 13 meters wide. Over the bridges, US 84 and US 425 run from Vidalia, Louisiana to Natchez, Mississippi. The bridge is of regional importance, with some through traffic. The bridges are toll-free.

History

The town of Natchez was an important place on the Mississippi River quite early on, so building a bridge was the obvious choice. The first bridge – the northern one – opened to traffic in October 1940. The bridge was used in both directions for more than 40 years, until a second bridge opened next to it in July 1988 – the South Bridge – which has a more modern design with a wider bridge deck.

Traffic intensities

In 2012, 23,300 vehicles drove over the bridges every day, which means that they are not overloaded.

Natchez - Vidalia Bridge