Interstate 110 (Louisiana)

I-110 is classified as an urban interstate by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (La DOTD). Daily traffic volume in 2013 peaked at 85,500 vehicles at the I-10 interchange and tapered off to 25,300 vehicles toward the northern terminus.[6] The posted speed limit is 50 mph (80 km/h) through the downtown area, after which it increases to 60 mph (95 km/h) for the remainder of the route.[3]

The portion of I-110 north of the Capitol Access Road exit is a small part of the ten-state National Scenic Byway known as the Great River Road.[7][8]

The genesis of the present I-110 was a short stretch of freeway constructed in the mid-1950s called the Baton Rouge Expressway. The first section extended roughly one mile (1.6 km) between Boyd Avenue (now Spanish Town Road) and Plank Road.[9] Traffic was fed onto the expressway from the downtown area via the one-way couplet of North 9th and 10th Streets, a continuation of the divided thoroughfare of East Boulevard.[9] The expressway was not initially constructed as part of the Interstate Highway System, although the Louisiana Department of Highways designed it for future inclusion.[10] It was given the internal designation of LA 3022 and also served as part of US 61/190 Bus. from its opening on August 20, 1957 until 1960.[9][11]

In 1960, US 61/190 Bus. was moved onto its present route, and the Baton Rouge Expressway became part of the newly designated I-410. By 1963, the expressway was extended south to Government Street.[9][12] The connections to I-10 were made when the adjoining sections of that highway were completed eastbound to Perkins Road in September 1964[13] and westbound across the Mississippi River in April 1968.[14]

I-410 was intended as a northern beltway extending from I-10 west of Port Allen, crossing the Mississippi River via the existing Huey P. Long Bridge on US 190, and then traveling along the present route of I-110 southward to rejoin I-10.[15] This plan was scrapped around 1965, and the Baton Rouge Expressway was renumbered as I-110 to reflect its function as a north–south spur.[12][16]

Further northern extensions of I-110 were opened as follows: from LA 67 (Plank Road) to Hollywood Drive around 1969,[17][18] to US 61/190 (Airline Highway) in 1976,[19][20] to LA 408 (Harding Boulevard) in the late 1970s,[20][21] and to LA 19 around 1982.[22][23] The final segment between LA 19 and US 61 (Scenic Highway) in Scotlandville was completed in January 1984.[24] In total, I-110 was constructed over the course of 30 years at a cost of $94.8 million.[24]

In 1991, three separate parties advocated for the naming of a Baton Rouge-area thoroughfare after civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr. The most high-profile effort was by state Senator Cleo Fields, who stated that the city was the only major metropolitan area in Louisiana without a street named for King. Fields chose the northern portion of I-110 traversing the historically black community of Scotlandville for the designation. The other parties, which included the local NAACP and a group known as People for a Change, criticized Fields' choice of thoroughfare and also bickered amongst themselves about the issue.[25]

The proposal also met with strong opposition from the outside, including Louisiana House of Representatives member and then-gubernatorial candidate David Duke, who opposed naming any street for King, stating that his "reputation as a womanizer means the honor is an insult to women and family life."[26] Representatives from the Taxpayer Education Association of Louisiana, the Louisiana Coalition for Conservatism, and the National Association for the Advancement of White People likewise brought up allegations of widespread plagiarism in King's writings and his ties to Communism.[27]

Nevertheless, the bill was signed into law that year by Governor Buddy Roemer, designating I-110 as the Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway.[28] Signs bearing the name were not installed along the highway until June 1999.[29]