Future I-49 Construction News and Photos Request

[rdm1992]

This is a Facebook Page for the future construction of I-49 from New Orleans to Kansas City http://www.facebook.com/pages/Future-I-49/112029835534714.  On this Facebook page, I suggest that the proposed Lafayette Expressway Loop be designated as I-249 and the extension of LA 3132 in Shreveport be designated as I-169.  Please post any new construction photos or news links that you may have.

[Anthony_JK]

That Facebook page is more of a fan page than anything else...The Mid-South subforum here includes plenty of info on the full I-49 extensions (both North and South), as well as the I-69 extensions, too.

LA 3132 will probably stay as is until a final decision is done on how to extend it to connect with I-69...but an extension of I-220 would be warranted due to its "connector" status. Making it an I-169 would create a "wrong-way" mileage situation.

An I-249 would work for any Lafayette Metro Expressway bypass..though should they really get clever and build a full loop, I'd prefer I-449. There's also the probability of integrating the LMX's southwest quad (I-10 near Scott to US 90/"Future I-49 South" near Broussard/Youngsville) into a southern realignment of I-10 or even a new I-6, and making the northern portion of the LMX loop (N of I-10 near Scott to I-49 North near Carencro and back to I-10 near Breaux Bridge) an I-x10.


Anthony

[rdm1992]

I was more interested in finding very recent news articles and photos that are not more than a few months old and wanted to keep away from the speculative discussions in the AARoads.com email threads which I have know about for some time.

An interest fact I did find in my searches was that many of the "fictional" route concepts discussed in the email threads were first suggested in a 1941 plan for a 78,000 mile interstate highway system.  The existing 45,000 mile "Eisenhower" system was selected in 1947 and given final approval and numbering in 1957 which is why Eisenhower is given credit for the system.

Unfortunately, a lot of the information in my internet searches for the Facebook "fan" page are several years old and since I have not lived in Louisiana for 30 years, its impossible for me to drive there and see what has actually been built or completed.

What is a "wrong way mileage situation"?

The I-249 numbering I suggested is the standard numbering scheme allowed in current Federal law (the most southern or western "loop" route number begin at the lowest digit I-2XX similar like I-10 in the southern US and I-5 in the western US).  I-449 would be correct for Lafayette if you built an I-249 around New Orleans.

I-6 would be a good designation if the old "Acadian Thruway" concept were revisited.  The "Acadian Thruway" was a toll road concept in the 1950's to connect Lafayette to New Orleans.  It was the original justification for the "Sunshine" Bridge near Donaldsonville which was for a long time Louisiana's "bridge to nowhere".