Louisiana Highway 19

LA 19 is generally classified by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (La DOTD) as an urban principal arterial within East Baton Rouge Parish. Daily traffic volume in 2013 peaked at 29,200 vehicles north of the I-110 interchange and decreased steadily through the suburbs of Baker and Zachary to 16,800 vehicles. Once the highway crosses into rural East Feliciana Parish at Slaughter, the figure drops off sharply, reaching an estimate of 2,200 vehicles toward the Mississippi state line.[1]

The posted speed limit is usually 55 mph (90 km/h) in rural areas, reduced to between 35 mph (55 km/h) and 45 mph (70 km/h) through town.[2]

In the original Louisiana Highway system in use between 1921 and 1955, the modern LA 19 was part of two separate routes, State Route 91 and State Route 152.[6][7]

The northern section running from Slaughter to the Mississippi state line was designated as State Route 91.[6] It was created in 1921 by an act of the state legislature as one of the original 98 state highway routes.[8]

Route No. 91. Beginning at Norwood along Y. & M. V. Railroad to Slaughter.

— 1921 legislative route description[8]

Originally, the north end of the highway was in Norwood as a direct route connecting Norwood with Centerville, Mississippi appears not to have existed at the time.[9] By 1927, Route 91 had been extended, curving northwest to closely follow what was then the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad to the Mississippi state line.[10][11] Otherwise, the route remained essentially the same up to the 1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering.[6][11] By this time, the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley line had been absorbed into the Illinois Central Railroad.[6][11]

The remainder of present-day LA 19, consisting of the southern portion of the route between Scotlandville and Slaughter, was added to the state highway system in 1928.[12] As was common practice by the Louisiana Highway Commission (forerunner of the La DOTD), it was designated with a different route number from the highway it continued.

Route 152. Commencing at Scotland, Louisiana in the Parish of East Baton Rouge, and running to Slaughter, East Feliciana Parish, connecting Route No. 3 of the system of State Highways at Scotland with Route No. 91 of the system of State highways at Slaughter, running approximately parallel to the line of the Y. & M. V. Ry.

— 1928 legislative route description[12]

This route also remained largely unchanged during the pre-1955 era. The only exception was a re-alignment of the highway between Baker and Zachary sometime after 1937.[7][13] This improvement eliminated two grade crossings of the Illinois Central (now the Gloster Southern) railroad tracks and streamlined the route through Zachary. The original route made a zigzag across the tracks north of Baker and followed what is now Old Baker-Zachary Road into Zachary. In the center of town, the route turned east onto Church Street back across the railroad line, then north onto East Central Avenue to rejoin the current alignment.[7] Once bypassed, the original route was designated as State Route C-2174.[7] The portion of this route within the Zachary city limits was retained in the 1955 renumbering as LA 1203.[14][15]

LA 19 was created in 1955 as a collective renumbering of former State Routes 91 and 152.[14]

La 19—From a junction with La-US 61 at or near Scotlandville through or near Zachary and Slaughter to the Mississippi state line north of Norwood.

— 1955 legislative route description[14]

The route of LA 19 has remained the same since the 1955 renumbering,[3][5][15][16] although the southern terminus in Scotlandville is now within the Baton Rouge city limits.[5] The once independent town was annexed in stages between the early 1970s and early 1980s.[17] The biggest improvement to LA 19 since its creation has been the widening of the highway to four lanes through most of East Baton Rouge Parish. This has served to accommodate the increased traffic volume caused by the suburban outgrowth of Baton Rouge. The section between LA 423 and Baker was widened in the late 1970s[18][19] and extended south to connect with the newly constructed extension of I-110 around 1982.[20][21] The widening of the portion between Baker and Zachary occurred by the end of the decade.[22][23]