Louisiana Highway 1

Highway in Louisiana

Louisiana Highway 1 (LA 1) is a state highway in Louisiana. At 431.88 mile (695 km), it is the longest numbered highway of any class in Louisiana. It runs diagonally across the state, connecting the oil and gas fields near the island of Grand Isle with the northwest corner of the state, north of Shreveport. The part south of U. S. Highway 90 near Raceland is Corridor 44, a National Highway System High Priority Corridor. From Alexandria to Shreveport, the LA 1 corridor was used for Interstate 49. Between New Roads, Louisiana, and the interchange with Interstate 49 at Alexandria, Louisiana, LA 1 forms part of the Zachary Taylor Parkway.

The southern terminus of LA 1 is at a dead end in Grand Isle on the south bank of Bayou Rigaud. It heads southwest and west through Grand Isle, turning northwest where it meets LA 3090 (the road to Port Fourchon). At Leeville the road crosses Bayou Lafourche on the Leeville Bridge and begins to parallel the bayou on its west bank, heading through towns such as Golden Meadow, Larose, Lockport, Raceland, Thibodaux, Napoleonville and Paincourtville. At Donaldsonville, where the bayou meets the Mississippi River, LA 1 turns northwest to parallel the river. (Southeast of Donaldsonville, LA 18 and LA 3089/LA 3127 parallel the Mississippi.) From Donaldsonville to Port Allen, across the Mississippi from Baton Rouge, LA 1 generally parallels the Mississippi River. It takes a relatively straight inland route, bypassing the curves of the river followed by LA 405 and LA 988. At Port Allen, it meets U. S. Highway 190 at the west end of the Huey P. Long Bridge, and turns west with US 190 to past Erwinville. There it turns back north, running along several back channels and oxbows of the Mississippi to New Roads (which is bypassed by LA 3131), and then heading west from New Roads to Morganza with LA 10 (still paralleling the Mississippi). From Morganza to Lettsworth, LA 1 heads northwest near the Mississippi; LA 15 begins in Lettsworth and continues north along the river while LA 1 continues generally northwest towards Alexandria.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) is converting LA 1 from Golden Meadow to Port Fourchon into an elevated toll expressway called the Louisiana Highway 1 Bridge. These improvements are in order to facilitate evacuations of Port Fourchon and Grand Isle in the event of a hurricane, as LA 1 in this area is vulnerable to flooding, regardless of strength of storm. When completed, the Gateway to the Gulf Expressway will be a 19 mile (31 km) elevated toll road from Golden Meadow to the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to mid June 2012, tolls were collected using "open road tolling" technology; LA 1 was the first road or bridge in Louisiana to have tolls collected in this method. Travelers using the facilities were required to pre pay either online, by phone, or at one of five kiosks north of the expressway, or use the "GeauxPass", an electronic toll collection transponder (or "toll tag") that collects tolls electronically. The GeauxPass is also compatible with the Crescent City Connection and all future Louisiana toll roads and the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, but not the ferries. Beginning in June 2012, a toll plaza was opened at the access ramp in Leeville. Vehicle drivers must now pay before accessing the expressway and the pre pay kiosks have been removed from their respective sites. The toll plaza accepts cash or credit/debit cards. GeauxPass is still accepted. Funding for the project through taxes and grants was not available, leading to the requirement to pay for the construction via collecting tolls. By law, LA 1 toll revenues may only be utilized to repay construction loan debts for the expressway. The first portion of this project, a two lane toll bridge over Bayou Lafourche, opened on July 8, 2009. Tolling of the new bridge began on August 3, 2009. The two lane section from Leeville to Port Fourchon opened on December 9, 2011. Funding is being secured for the section between Leeville and Golden Meadow with the eventual widening of the entire corridor to four lanes.