Louisiana Highway 34

Route map:
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

LA 1239-2 in Montgomery
Major intersections
North end
US 80 / LA 15
in West Monroe
Location
CountryUnited States
StateLouisiana
ParishesGrant, Winn, Jackson, Ouachita
Highway system
  • Louisiana State Highway System
← LA 33→ LA 35

Louisiana Highway 34 (LA 34) is a

US 80/LA 15 in West Monroe
.

The route connects

US 167, which run concurrent with LA 34 through the center of town. Near its northeastern terminus in West Monroe, LA 34 has an interchange with Interstate 20
(I-20).

Outside Winnfield and the Monroe metropolitan area, LA 34 is an entirely rural highway that passes through the occasional small community. These include the Jackson Parish towns of Chatham and Eros, as well as the Winn Parish village of Atlanta.

LA 34 was created from portions of nine different former routes designated at various times during the 1920s and 1930s. The

Louisiana Department of Highways combined them under a single designation in the 1955 renumbering
of the state's highway system.

Route description

Montgomery to Winnfield

From the south, LA 34 begins at a junction with

LA 471 connects with Verda back in Grant Parish.[2][3][4][5]

Six miles (9.7 km) northeast of Sardis, LA 34 enters the city of

US 167 at West Court Street. LA 34 turns east to follow US 84/US 167, becoming an undivided four-lane highway with a center turning lane. The route overpasses the KCS tracks and transitions onto East Lafayette Street. On the east side of town, US 167 curves south toward Alexandria while US 84 and LA 34 turn north at a T-intersection onto East Boundary Street, narrowing again to two lanes. After a short distance, the route turns northeast at a Y-intersection with Maple Street and exits the Winnfield corporate limits.[2][5][6]

Winnfield to Eros

After crossing the

LA 126 about midway between points known as Hudson and Gaars Mill. LA 126 connects with Dodson to the west and Sikes to the east. North of this junction, LA 34 curves its way through the thick piney woods before crossing from Winn Parish into Jackson Parish.[2][5][6]

Immediately across the parish line, LA 34 intersects

LA 144, which heads north toward Calhoun and Choudrant.[2][7][8]

Eros to West Monroe

Immediately northeast of Eros, LA 34 crosses into

LA 617 begins and proceeds straight ahead onto Thomas Road while LA 34 turns east onto Jonesboro Road, remaining in its same capacity.[2][8][9]

The highway enters the city of

US 80/LA 15, which turns from Cypress Street onto Bridge Street to continue ahead across the Ouachita River and into Monroe.[2][8][9]

Route classification and data

LA 34 is generally classified as a rural major collector by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (La DOTD). However, the route serves as an urban minor arterial in Winnfield and the Brownsville-Bawcomville area and as an urban principal arterial in West Monroe. Daily traffic volume in 2013 peaked at 28,300 vehicles in West Monroe. Outside the Monroe metropolitan area, traffic counts generally stayed between 1,300 and 3,500 vehicles with a low of 410 reported near the southern terminus in Montgomery.[10] The posted speed limit ranges from 55 mph (90 km/h) in rural areas to as low as 25 mph (40 km/h) or 35 mph (55 km/h) in populated areas.[2]

History

In the

Louisiana Department of Highways renumbered the state highway system in 1955.[12]
Motorists could now travel the most direct route between Winnfield and Monroe by following one highway number.

Class "A": La 34—From a junction with La-US 84 at or near Winnfield through or near Chatham, Eros and Brownsville to a junction with La-US 80 at or near West Monroe.
Class "B": La 34—From a junction with La-US 71 at or near Montgomery through or near Atlanta to a junction with La-US 84 at or near Winnfield.

— 1955 legislative route description[12]

With the 1955 renumbering, the state highway department initially categorized all routes into three classes: "A" (primary), "B" (secondary), and "C" (farm-to-market).[13] This system has since been updated and replaced by a more specific functional classification system.

LA 34 has seen only minor changes over the years that have mostly resulted from the straightening of curves and the replacement of bridges on the route. The highway was slightly re-routed in West Monroe when I-20 was constructed through town in 1964.[14] The original route followed Natchitoches Street rather than the one-way couplet of Stella and Mill Streets.[15][16] In the 1970s, LA 34 was shifted onto a newly constructed parallel alignment south of Bawcomville, eliminating two railroad crossings. Part of the original route survives as Kings Lake Road.[9][17] Further west near Guyton, a curved section of road now known as Jimmy Graham Loop was also bypassed.[9][17] In Winn Parish, a number of curves were smoothed out near Sardis, south of Winnfield.[4][18]

More recently, the junction of LA 34 and LA 617 was moved north two blocks to accommodate an industrial facility.

LA 840-1 (Smith Street). In 2006, the highway was streamlined through Winnfield when a new overpass was constructed across the Kansas City Southern Railway line.[6][18][20] The project also involved changing the original zigzag from Court Street onto Lafayette Street into a smooth transition and widening the connecting roadways. Finally, a curve was eliminated north of Hudson in Winn Parish around 2009 as part of a resurfacing project.[6][21]

Major intersections

ParishLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
LA 1239-2
(Caddo Street)		Southern terminus of LA 34; northern terminus of LA 1239-2
LA 471 south – Verda
Northern terminus of LA 471; 0.3 miles (0.48 km) west of Atlanta
​15.40524.792
LA 3136
west		Eastern terminus of LA 3136
​16.92527.238
LA 1229
north		Southern terminus of LA 1229
LA 1228
east		South end of LA 1228 concurrency
​18.60829.947
LA 1228
west		North end of LA 1228 concurrency
US 167 north (West Court Street) – Clarence, Jonesboro
South end of US 84 and US 167 concurrencies
25.57641.161
LA 1231-2
north (South Grove Street)		Northern terminus of LA 1231-1; southern terminus of LA 1231-2
​26.35642.416
US 167 south – Alexandria
North end of US 167 concurrency
US 84 east – Tullos, Olla
North end of US 84 concurrency
​29.35647.244
LA 499 north – Sikes
Southern terminus of LA 499
​36.50558.749
LA 1236
west		Eastern terminus of LA 1236
​38.56462.063
LA 126 – Dodson, Sikes
LA 147 north (Walker Road) – Jonesboro
Southern terminus of LA 147
​50.28380.923
LA 810
Eastern terminus of LA 810
Chatham57.12791.937 LA 4 – Jonesboro, Columbia
58.66994.419
LA 548
Western terminus of LA 548
​62.517100.611
LA 148
west (Century Loop)		South end of LA 148 concurrency
LA 148
east (Okaloosa Road)		North end of LA 148 concurrency
64.191103.305
LA 144 north – Calhoun, Choudrant
Southern terminus of LA 144
LA 546 – Calhoun
Southern terminus of LA 546
​75.708121.840
LA 3033 – Cheniere
Southern terminus of LA 3033
​78.043125.598
LA 557
Northern terminus of LA 557
LA 840-1
(Smith Street)		Eastern terminus of LA 840-1
83.919135.055
LA 617
(Thomas Road)		Southern terminus of LA 617
I-20 – Monroe, Shreveport
Exit 115 on I-20
85.733137.974
LA 143
north (North 7th Street)		Southern terminus of LA 143
86.124138.603
US 80 / LA 15
(Bridge Street, Cypress Street)		Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "La DOTD GIS Data". Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. September 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Google (April 11, 2016). "Overview Map of LA 34" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  3. ^ Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Multimodal Planning (February 2012). Grant Parish (West Section) (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Multimodal Planning (February 2012). Winn Parish (West Section) (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Multimodal Planning (February 2012). District 08: Official Control Section Map, Construction and Maintenance (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Multimodal Planning (February 2012). Winn Parish (East Section) (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  7. ^ Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Multimodal Planning (February 2012). Jackson Parish (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Multimodal Planning (February 2012). District 05: Official Control Section Map, Construction and Maintenance (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Multimodal Planning (February 2012). Ouachita Parish (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  10. ^ "La DOTD GIS". Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. 2013. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  11. Louisiana Department of Highways
    (July 1, 1955). Louisiana Highways: Interim Road Map (Map). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Highways.
  12. ^ a b "Act No. 40, House Bill No. 311". State-Times. Baton Rouge. June 18, 1955. p. 3B.
  13. ^ "Engineering Directives and Standards: Authorization and Definition of the State Highway System". Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. January 18, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  14. ^ "Louisiana's 679.9 Miles of Interstate Highway Ahead of Schedule". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans. November 27, 1964. p. 62.
  15. ^ Louisiana Department of Highways (June 1, 1963). Louisiana (Map). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Highways.
  16. ^ Louisiana Department of Highways (1966). Louisiana (Map). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Highways.
  17. ^ a b c Louisiana Department of Highways, Traffic and Planning Section (1956). Ouachita Parish (Map) (January 1, 1958 ed.). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Highways.
  18. ^ a b Louisiana Department of Highways, Traffic and Planning Section (1956). Winn Parish (Map) (January 1, 1958 ed.). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Highways.
  19. ^ Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Planning and Programming (1994). Ouachita Parish (Map) (1997 ed.). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.
  20. ^ "National Bridge Inventory Data: US0167 Over KCS Railroad". Ugly Bridges. 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  21. ^ Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Planning and Programming (1999). Winn Parish (Map) (2001 ed.). Scale not given. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

External links

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