Zachary Taylor Parkway

The Zachary Taylor Parkway is a highway that stretches from Alexandria, Louisiana to Poplarville, Mississippi. The corridor traverses eight Louisiana Parishes and one Mississippi County. Traveling through it, motorists encounter a diverse mix of small towns, scenic countryside, homegrown businesses, agricultural areas, tourist attractions, and plantations, but also areas beset by poverty.^[1]

Route

The parkway extends approximately 210 miles, stretching from Interstate 49 near Alexandria and Pineville, Louisiana on the west, crossing Interstate 55 near Amite, and continuing all the way to Interstate 59 near Poplarville, MS.

Highlights

Audubon Bridge

The John James Audubon Bridge (Mississippi River), completed and opened in 2011, is a Mississippi River crossing between Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana parishes in south central Louisiana. The bridge has the second longest cable-stayed span in the Western Hemisphere (after Mexico's Baluarte bridge, though its total length is four times that of the Mexican bridge)[2]and replaces the ferry between the communities of New Roads and St. Francisville. The bridge also serves as the only bridge structure on the Mississippi River between Natchez, Mississippi and Baton Rouge, Louisiana (approximately 90 river miles). The bridge allows the Zachary Taylor Parkway to span the Mississippi. The Audubon Bridge corridor includes:

• A 2.44-mile (3.93 km) four-lane elevated bridge structure with two 11-foot (3.4 m) travel lanes in each direction with 8-foot (2.4 m) outside shoulders and 2-foot (0.61 m) inside shoulders
• Approximately 12 miles (19 km) of two-lane roadway connecting LA 1 east of Hospital Road and Major Parkway at New Roads to US 61 south of LA 966 and St. Francisville
• Four new intersections at existing LA 1, LA 10, LA 981 (River Road) and US 61 for entry to and exit from the new roadway and bridge

References