New:
LA 40: 38 photos covering westbound between Bush and LA 445.
LA 435: 15 photos covering eastbound between Abita Springs and Talisheek. (Photographically clinched eastbound)
LA 445: 16 photos covering southbound between LA 40 and Bedico. Expect prompt additions - there's a part of it I plan to investigate today.
LA 1078: Nine photos covering westbound between LA 25 and the western terminus. (Photographically clinched westbound)
LA 1081: Seven photos covering northbound between LA 437 and LA 437. (Not a typo. LA 1081 is a half-loop intersecting LA 437 at both its north and south ends.) (Photographically clinched northbound)
LA 1082: Four photos of northbound, two at each end.
North Causeway Approach: Seven pictures of southbound between US 190/LA 22 and the LA 1087 exit.
Updated:
LA 21: Added five pictures of southbound - three from the LA 40 concurrency and two from between LA 59 and LA 1082.
LA 22: Added ten pictures of eastbound between Bedico and Madisonville.
LA 41: Added seven pictures of northbound between Talisheek and Bush.
LA 59: Added four pictures of northbound between LA 36 and LA 59. (Photographically clinched northbound)
LA 437: Added 15 pictures of southbound between Barker's Corner and Covington.
LA 1077: Added seven photos of northbound between LA 1078 and LA 25.
As always, all upd*tes are geotagged. Here at this blog, we flat-out pwn "Operation Coordinates" without even trying.
Don't forget to bookmark the RSS feed to get the latest upd*tes as they happen!
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Now for the proposals.
Proposal One - LA 59 Northern Extension
This one is fairly simple, something noticed the other day when I was taking the recent LA 59 and LA 1082 pictures. The two are so close together and so closely aligned, I believe that LA 59 should overtake the routing of LA 1082. What this would do is create a better Mandeville-to-Folsom route that bypasses Covington completely.
As such:
1) LA 21 between the current LA 59 northern end should be additionally designated as LA 59 until the current intersection of LA 21 and LA 1082. This will create a very brief wrong-way concurrency.
2) LA 1082 should be redesignated as LA 59 in its entirety, between LA 21 and LA 40.
...Speaking of LA 59...
Proposal Two - Twinning of LA 59 in Mandeville
This proposal is a little more complex, but it would dramatically ease traffic flow north out of Mandeville. Right now, LA 59 carries three lanes from Abita Springs all the way south to US 190. Most of the way, it's sufficient. Between LA 1088 and US 190, however, that's a completely different story.
The section of LA 59 in question is frequently congested (especially northbound), and there is no more room to widen it because of an extremely limited right-of-way.
My idea doesn't involve acquiring any more right of way along current LA 59, yet manages to twin LA 59 from one three-lane highway to two two-lane carriageways with frequent turn lanes OR modest (but not quite Interstate-standard) shoulders, whichever are deemed more necessary.
To make it easier to understand, LA 59 is also designated in Mandeville as Girod Street. Just to the east of Girod Street is Marigny Avenue, which is currently two one-lane carriageways with a spacious median. My idea is this: rebuild Marigny Avenue between US 190 and LA 1088 as a northbound carriageway for LA 59, effectively turning Girod Street and Marigny Avenue into a one-way couplet, each carrying one direction of LA 59.
Here's where being creative comes in - Marigny Avenue doesn't currently connect to LA 1088. At a local road, Marigny turns from a divided two-lane street to an undivided one - however, Marigny Street past the local road has a lot of undeveloped space. A connection to LA 1088 and Girod Street is feasible and would not require acquiring too much right of way.
In contrast, if Girod Street were to be widened any further, about 40-50 homes and businesses would either be displaced or subdivided to the point of uselessness.
I've taken the liberty of putting to visual the proposed routing:
Pink denotes the already-existing portion of Marigny that would need to be reconfigured, while green denotes new roadway that would have to be built, as none currently exists.
Many places already have one-way couplets that each carry different directions of highway, and I think it's the only way to make traveling on 59 easier for all.
