.svg) Louisiana Highway 30 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Route of LA 30 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byLouisiana DOTD | ||||
| Length | 28.102 mi[1] (45.226 km) | |||
| Existed | 1955 renumbering–present | |||
| Tourist routes |  National Scenic Byways:Great River Road | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| Northwest end |  LA 73 inBaton Rouge | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| Southeast end |   US 61 /LA 431 east of Gonzales | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Louisiana | |||
| Parishes | East Baton Rouge,Iberville,Ascension | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Louisiana Highway 30 (LA 30) is astate highway located in southeasternLouisiana. It runs 28.10 miles (45.22 km) in a northwest to southeast direction fromLA 73 inBaton Rouge to the junction ofU.S. Highway 61 (US 61) andLA 431 east ofGonzales.
The route connects Downtown Baton Rouge withLouisiana State University and travels through the western portion of the campus. Known as Nicholson Drive, this section of LA 30 is a divided four-lane thoroughfare that provides access to many of the school's sports facilities, most notablyTiger Stadium, one of the largest stadiums by capacity in the world.
South of the Baton Rouge area, LA 30 cuts across several sharp bends in theMississippi River. While passing through the rural city ofSt. Gabriel, its general direction changes from north–south to east–west. The highway then connects a string of chemical plants in theGeismar area to junctions withInterstate 10 (I-10) in Gonzales and US 61 atBrittany.
LA 30 was designated in the1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering, replacing the formerState Route 63. The highway initially followed little of its current route, traveling more closely along the Mississippi River southward fromGardere to a different terminus atDarrow. The current alignment, an extension of Baton Rouge's Nicholson Drive, was constructed in stages during the 1960s. Other state highway designations, primarilyLA 75, were subsequently extended over portions of the original alignment.
From the northwest, LA 30 begins at a junction withLA 73 (Government Street) inDowntown Baton Rouge just three blocks from theMississippi River. The route heads south briefly on the undivided two-lane St. Louis Street. After four blocks, the roadway crosses underneathI-10 at exit 155A and transitions onto the divided four-lane thoroughfare of Nicholson Drive. A ramp connects northbound St. Louis Street with I-10 west toLafayette, and another leads from I-10 east onto Nicholson Drive in both directions.[2][3][4]
South of the downtown area, LA 30 cuts through the campus ofLouisiana State University and passes closely byTiger Stadium. Shortly afterward, the highway begins to follow alongside theCanadian National Railway (CN) line while passingAlex Box Stadium/Skip Bertman Field. It then intersectsLA 42 (Burbank Drive), which connects to I-10 at theBlue Bayou and Dixie Landin' amusement parks. South of the LSU campus, the surroundings become more rural in character, and LA 30 narrows to an undivided two-lane highway. In an area known asGardere, the route crossesLA 327 Spur (Gardere Lane), which leads to the nearbyL'Auberge Casino and Hotel on the Mississippi River. Shortly afterward is an intersection withLA 1248 (Bluebonnet Boulevard), connecting to I-10 and theMall of Louisiana.[2][3][4]
Continuing southward, LA 30 simultaneously crosses from unincorporatedEast Baton Rouge Parish into theIberville Parish city ofSt. Gabriel. There is little change in the surroundings, as the city limits encompass scattered rural communities, prison facilities, and industrial plants. Several formerly independent communities, such asCarville andSunshine are still identified on the directional highway signs. In the center of town, LA 30 passes the local high school and intersectsLA 74, which leads throughDutchtown to another connection with the interstate. LA 30 curves southeast away from the CN rail line and proceeds through a small industrial corridor before crossing out of St. Gabriel and into unincorporatedAscension Parish.[2][4][5]
LA 30 gains a center turning lane and crossesLA 73 nearGeismar. The route then curves due east and maintains this trajectory for the rest of its journey. Just beyondLA 3251 (Ashland Road), LA 30 enters the city ofGonzales and passes through adiamond interchange with I-10 at exit 177, connecting with Baton Rouge andNew Orleans. The highway becomes a partially developed commercial corridor between I-10 andLA 44 (South Burnside Avenue). It then narrows to two lanes once more and passes through scattered residential development until reaching its terminus atUS 61 (Airline Highway) in an area known asBrittany. From this junction, located between Gonzales andSorrento,LA 431 continues the path of LA 30 and turns northward towardPort Vincent.[2][4][6]
LA 30 is classified by theLouisiana Department of Transportation and Development (La DOTD) as an urban minor arterial for most of its length. At either end—within the city of Baton Rouge and east of I-10 in Gonzales—it is considered an urban principal arterial.[7] Daily traffic volume in 2013 peaked at 29,900 vehicles within and just north of the LSU campus. Another high figure of 22,100 was recorded near I-10 in Gonzales. The remainder of the route generally averaged less than 12,000 vehicles per day.[7] The posted speed limit is 55 mph (90 km/h) for most of the route but is reduced to 45 or 35 mph (70 or 55 km/h) in developed areas.[2]
The portion of LA 30 from Downtown Baton Rouge to the LSU campus serves as a small link in theGreat River Road, which is designated as aNational Scenic Byway.[8]
.svg) State Route 63 | |
|---|---|
| Location | Baton Rouge–Darrow |
| Length | 26.4 mi[9][10][11] (42.5 km) |
| Existed | 1921–1955 |
TheLouisiana Highway Commission and the state's first system of numbered highways were created in 1921. At that time, the main road traveling from Downtown Baton Rouge through what would soon become the new campus of Louisiana State University was Highland Road, which was designated as part of State Route 63.[12]
Route 63. Beginning at Baton Rouge via Agricultural College, Burtville, through Grenada cut off at Plaquemine, thence from Grenada lane, down, via St. Gabriel, through Island Cut Off to Jefferson Highway in Ascension Parish.
— 1926 revised legislative route description[13]
Over the next few decades, the state highway department would gradually replace this and other points of access to LSU with newer and wider thoroughfares. In 1937, the first section of Nicholson Drive was completed, running parallel to Highland Road from South Boulevard to LSU's Tiger Stadium.[14][15] This new road was not incorporated into Route 63 but was instead designated as Route C-1458. The southern end of Nicholson Drive initially connected with the older Highland Road via South Stadium and South Campus Drives, but a smoother connection known as Nicholson Drive Extension was opened by the late 1940s.[16]
The remainder of Route 63 likewise followed older, parallel roadways to the modern LA 30 until reaching Ascension Parish, where it proceeded to a very different terminus. South of LSU, Route 63 turned southwest from Highland Road onto Gardere Lane (now LA 327 Spur) to the Mississippi River. It then followed the current routes ofLA 327 andLA 75 to Geismar, generally following the river levee but cutting across some of its sharper bends.[17] The pre-1955State Route 1 continued the route downriver from Geismar towardDarrow and also branched northeast from the river towardPrairieville. This terminus was once a major junction, as Route 1 (known as theJefferson Highway) carried through traffic between New Orleans and Baton Rouge as part of US 61 until theAirline Highway was opened in 1933.[18][19]
TheLouisiana Department of Highways, the successor to the Louisiana Highway Commission, renumbered the state highway system in 1955.[20] LA 30 was designated to replace the former Route 63, whose number was reused for an unrelated route to the northeast. Small extensions to the route were also made at either end.
La 30—From a junction with La-US 61 Business Route at or near Baton Rouge through or near Burtville, St. Gabriel, Carville and Geismar to a junction with La 22 at or near Darrow.
— 1955 legislative route description[20]
LA 30 now took advantage of the Nicholson Drive alignment that the old Route 63 had never incorporated.[17] Initially, it also extended further into Downtown Baton Rouge and intersectedUS 61 Bus. (and the concurrentUS 190 Bus.). This junction was initially located at Florida Boulevard and Acadian Thruway[17] but was moved several blocks west in 1957 when the business route was re-routed onto the first completed portion of the Baton Rouge Expressway (nowI-110).[21][22] From there, LA 30 headed west on Florida Boulevard toward the Mississippi River then turned south onto Lafayette Street (northbound via 3rd Street) and made a zigzag at theOld State Capitol onto St. Phillip Street to reach Government Street.[17] By 1960, the terminus had changed again as US 61/190 Bus. was moved onto its current route following River Road after improvements to that thoroughfare were completed.[23][24] LA 30 now headed south on River Road from Florida Boulevard to Government Street rather than the one-way pair of Lafayette and 3rd Streets. The current terminus at Government Street was put into effect in recent years when this portion of River Road was transferred to the city of Baton Rouge.
On the opposite end, LA 30 took over the portion of former Route 1 along the Mississippi River from Geismar to Darrow.[17] Here,LA 22 crossed the river by ferry toDonaldsonville until 1965, a year after theSunshine Bridge was completed.[25][26]
In the early 1960s, the current alignment of LA 30 was opened from LSU to Gardere Lane.[24][27] The new roadway was an extension of Nicholson Drive, but it did not continue from the earlier Nicholson Drive Extension, which is still signed by that name in the field. It traveled instead on a new path alongside theIllinois Central Railroad line (now the Canadian National). This alignment was formerly labeled on the official state highway maps as Arlington Road but is now signed throughout East Baton Rouge Parish as part of Nicholson Drive. The old alignment following Highland Road became part of LA 42 until that designation was moved onto the newly constructed Burbank Drive in the 1990s.[28]
Around 1965, the new alignment of LA 30 was extended from Gardere Lane to LA 74 in St. Gabriel. The present highway designations absorbed the old route along Gardere Lane and the River Road at this time.[29][30] The new alignment of LA 30 was completed to LA 44 in Gonzales by 1970.[31] It tied in there with an existing road that was part of LA 431. The designation of LA 30 then replaced that of LA 431 eastward from LA 44 to the junction with US 61.
In March 2015, a slight change to the route of LA 30 occurred when St. Louis Street was converted to a two-way street as part of Baton Rouge's Downtown Two-Way Project. The project was designed to facilitate access to nearby parking garages and improve the connection between the downtown area and the LSU campus.[32] St. Louis Street previously formed aone-way pair with St. Philip Street, which is now internally designated asLA 30 Spur.[1]
La DOTD is currently engaged in a program that aims to transfer about 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of state-owned roadways to local governments over the next several years.[33] Under this plan of "right-sizing" the state highway system, the northwestern portion of LA 30 between Baton Rouge and Gardere is proposed for deletion as it no longer meets a significant interurban travel function.[34]
| Parish | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Baton Rouge | Baton Rouge | 0.000 | 0.000 |   LA 73 (Government Street) toI-10 | Western terminus |
| 0.146– 0.458 | 0.235– 0.737 |  I-10 west –Port Allen,Lafayette | Access from northbound LA 30 to I-10 west and from I-10 east to LA 30 both directions | ||
| 0.331 | 0.533 |   LA 30 Spur (St. Philip Street) | Southern terminus of LA 30 Spur (not signed); one-way southbound | ||
| 2.228 | 3.586 |  LA 327 (Skip Bertman Drive) | Northern terminus of LA 327 | ||
| 2.725 | 4.385 |  LA 42 (Burbank Drive) | Western terminus of LA 42 | ||
| Gardere | 7.530 | 12.118 | LA 327 Spur (Gardere Lane) | ToL'Auberge Hotel and Casino | |
| | 8.264 | 13.300 |   LA 1248 north (Bluebonnet Boulevard) | Southern terminus of LA 1248 | |
| Iberville | St. Gabriel | 14.092 | 22.679 |  LA 74 –Carville,Sunshine,Dutchtown | |
| 17.247 | 27.756 |  LA 3115 | |||
| Ascension | | 20.384 | 32.805 | LA 73 –Geismar,Carville,Dutchtown | |
| | 23.270 | 37.449 |  LA 3251 (Ashland Road) | Northern terminus of LA 3251 | |
| Gonzales | 24.033– 24.315 | 38.677– 39.131 | I-10 –Baton Rouge,New Orleans | Exit 177 on I-10 | |
| 25.771 | 41.474 |  LA 44 (South Burnside Avenue) | |||
| | 27.804 | 44.746 |  LA 941 | Northern terminus of LA 941 | |
| Brittany | 28.102 | 45.226 | US 61 (Airline Highway) –Baton Rouge,New OrleansLA 431 north –Port Vincent,Denham Springs | Eastern terminus of LA 30; southern terminus of LA 431 | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
 Louisiana Highway 30 Spur | |
|---|---|
| Location | Baton Rouge |
| Length | 0.353 mi[1] (568 m) |
| Existed | 2015–present |
Louisiana Highway 30 Spur (LA 30 Spur) runs 0.35 miles (0.56 km) fromLA 73 to mainline LA 30 inBaton Rouge.[3][4][35]
The route consists of an unsigned state-maintained portion of St. Philip Street that carries one-way traffic in a southbound direction. It was formerly part of aone-way pair with St. Louis Street and served as the southbound lanes of mainline LA 30 until that thoroughfare was converted to a two-way street in March 2015.[32] Both the spur and the entirety of its parent route within the Baton Rouge city limits are under an agreement to be transferred to local control as of January 2017.[34]
The entire highway is inBaton Rouge,East Baton Rouge Parish.
| mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.000 | 0.000 | LA 73 (Government Street) | Northern terminus | ||
| 0.353 | 0.568 | LA 30 (Nicholson Drive) | Southern terminus | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
