Louisiana Highway 20 (LA 20) is a state highway that serves Terrebonne Parish, Lafourche Parish, and St. James Parish. It spans a total of 36.6 miles (58.9 km)[1] as a two lane, undivided road.
.svg) Louisiana Highway 20 | ||||
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Louisiana DOTD | ||||
| Length | 36.6 mi[1] (58.9 km) | |||
| Existed | 1955 renumbering–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  LA 182 in Gibson | |||
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| East end |  LA 18 in North Vacherie | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Louisiana | |||
| Parishes | Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. James | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route description
editFrom the south, LA 20 begins at LA 182 in the northwest Terrebonne Parish town of Gibson. The road parallels then intersects U.S. 90 (Future I-49) at two locations (Exits 189 & 194) as it heads northeastward, where it intersects LA 24 in Schriever. LA 20 turns due north and intersects LA 1 in Thibodaux as it continues northward. The road then passes through Chackbay before it enters St. James Parish. LA 20 runs northward through South Vacherie and ends at an intersection with LA 18 in North Vacherie.
History
editIn 1972, LA 20 was routed off of Jackson Street in downtown Thibodaux and onto parallel Canal Boulevard, a four-lane, largely residential thoroughfare.[2] The extension of Canal Boulevard north of Bayou Lafourche was to be opened soon, bypassing St. Patrick Street.[2][3] The route change was opposed by Thibodaux's mayor, Warren Harang, and the Louisiana Department of Highways agreed to keep truck traffic routed via Jackson Street,[2] which was retained as LA 20 Spur.[4] By the late 1990s, LA 20 was routed back onto Jackson Street, reinstating a short concurrency with LA 1 from St. Mary Street to West 1st Street and utilizing LA 308 to connect with North Canal Boulevard.[5][6]
In Vacherie, LA 20 originally turned east along LA 18 and crossed the Mississippi River by ferry to Lutcher.[7][8] It then followed what is now LA 3274 to a terminus at US 61 (Airline Highway).[7][8] The ferry service was replaced by the newly opened Gramercy Bridge (or Veterans Memorial Bridge) in May 1995,[9] and LA 20 was truncated to its present terminus in Vacherie two years later.[5][10]
Major intersections
edit| Parish | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrebonne | Gibson | 0.0 | 0.0 | LA 182 (Bayou Black Drive) | Western terminus | |||
| 1.2 | 1.9 |  US 90 – Morgan City, New Orleans | Exit 189 on US 90 | |||||
| Chacahoula | 5.6 | 9.0 |   LA 309 north (Brule Guillot Road) | Southern terminus of LA 309 | ||||
| 5.9 | 9.5 | US 90 – Morgan City, New Orleans | Exit 194 on US 90 | |||||
| Lafourche |
No major junctions | |||||||
| Terrebonne | Schriever | 12.5 | 20.1 |   LA 24 east (Main Street, Park Avenue) – Houma | Interchange; western terminus of LA 24 | |||
| 13.7 | 22.0 |  LA 3185 (Elizabeth Street) | Southeastern terminus of LA 3185 | |||||
| 14.8 | 23.8 |  LA 648 (Percy Brown Road) | Southwestern terminus of LA 648 | |||||
| Lafourche | Thibodaux | 16.4 | 26.4 |  LA 1 north (St. Mary Street) – Napoleonville | West end of LA 1 concurrency | |||
| 16.5 | 26.6 |  LA 1 south (West 1st Street) – Raceland | East end of LA 1 concurrency | |||||
| 16.6 | 26.7 |  LA 308 north (Bayou Road) – Napoleonville | West end of LA 308 concurrency | |||||
| 16.9 | 27.2 | LA 308 south (Bayou Road) – Raceland | East end of LA 308 concurrency | |||||
| Chackbay | 22.7 | 36.5 |  LA 304 | Northeastern terminus of LA 304 | ||||
| 27.7 | 44.6 |  LA 307 south – Kraemer | Northern terminus of LA 307 | |||||
| St. James | South Vacherie | 31.6 | 50.9 |  LA 643 east – Lac Des Allemands | Western terminus of LA 643 | |||
| 32.0 | 51.5 |  LA 644 east | Western terminus of LA 644 | |||||
| North Vacherie | 33.9 | 54.6 |  LA 3127 – Donaldsonville, Boutte | |||||
| 36.6 | 58.9 | LA 18 (River Road) – Donaldsonville, Luling / Mississippi River Bridge | Eastern terminus | |||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
edit- ^ a b c Microsoft; Nokia. "Map of LA 20" (Map). Bing Maps. Microsoft. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Truck traffic route changed in Thibodaux". Morning Advocate. Baton Rouge. December 29, 1972. p. 16A.
- ^ Lafourche Parish (North Section) (Map) (January 1, 1958 ed.). Cartography by Department of Highways Traffic and Planning Section. Louisiana Department of Highways. 1953.
- ^ Louisiana (Map). Cartography by Louisiana Department of Highways. Louisiana Department of Highways. 1976.
- ^ a b The Roads of Louisiana (Map). Cartography by Shearer. Shearer Publishing. 1997. p. 75.
- ^ Lafourche Parish (West Section) (Map). Cartography by Office of Planning and Programming. Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. 1998.
- ^ a b "Act No. 40, House Bill No. 311". State-Times. Baton Rouge. June 18, 1955. p. 3B–4B.
- ^ a b St. James Parish (Map) (January 1, 1958 ed.). Cartography by Department of Highways Traffic and Planning Section. Louisiana Department of Highways. 1953.
- ^ Bell, Rhonda; Hyman, Vicki (May 5, 1995). "St. John, St. James link open". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans. p. A1.
- ^ St. James Parish (Map). Cartography by Office of Planning and Programming. Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. 1999.