Airline Highway

==History==
The highway's origin is famously identified with Governor [[Huey P. Long]], who advocated for a modern highway system in Louisiana.  Though the project was underway when Long took office, most of its initial construction was completed during his administration.  The Airline Highway was considered a pet project of Long's as it reduced the length of his journey between the capitol building in Baton Rouge and the bars and establishments in New Orleans, namely [[The Roosevelt New Orleans|The Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Mahne|first=Theodore P.|title=Huey Long just one chapter of storied history of New Orleans' Roosevelt Hotel, which reopens Wednesday|work=The Times-Picayune|location=New Orleans, LA|date=June 30, 2009|url=http://www.nola.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2009/06/huey_long_just_one_chapter_of.html|access-date=May 3, 2015}}</ref> Originally, Airline Highway was a two-lane road that ran from [[Prairieville, Louisiana|Prairieville]] to [[Shrewsbury, Louisiana|Shrewsbury]].  The first section, running between Williams Boulevard in [[Kenner, Louisiana|Kenner]] and Shrewsbury Road, opened in June 1927.<ref name="T-P 6-1-27">{{cite news |title=News of Metairie and the highway |newspaper=The Times-Picayune |location=New Orleans |date=June 1, 1927 |page=36}}</ref>  It was begun by the Jefferson Parish Police Jury as a local road and incorporated into the plan for Airline Highway during construction.<ref name="T-P 7-19-25">{{cite news |title=Airline route to state capital is feasible project |newspaper=The Times-Picayune |location=New Orleans |date=July 19, 1925 |page=4–1}}</ref>  The remainder of the highway was built between 1928 and 1933 by the Louisiana Highway Commission with federal aid, as the road would carry US 61 upon completion.

The section north of the spillway was officially opened on July 4, 1933,<ref name="T-P 7-4-33">{{cite news |title=Opening of airline route announced |newspaper=The Times-Picayune |location=New Orleans |date=July 4, 1933 |page=1}}</ref> and the section on the south side followed three weeks later.<ref name="T-P 7-29-33">{{cite news |title=Road to capital cut by opening of new section |newspaper=The Times-Picayune |location=New Orleans |date=July 29, 1933 |pages=2–11}}</ref>  (Various sections had been temporarily opened to traffic beginning in October 1931.)  Completion of the bridge over the [[Bonnet Carre Spillway|Bonnet Carré Spillway]] was delayed until 1935, necessitating a detour over the Jefferson Highway (River Road) via temporary gravel roads along the spillway guide levees.<ref name="T-P 5-1-35">{{cite news |title=Driving distance to Baton Rouge will be reduced |newspaper=The Times-Picayune |location=New Orleans |date=May 1, 1935 |page=1}}</ref>  The spillway bridge was opened to traffic on September 28, 1935<ref name="T-P 9-24-35">{{cite news |title=Spillway bridge may be ready for use on Saturday |newspaper=The Times-Picayune |location=New Orleans |date=September 24, 1935 |page=1}}</ref> and dedicated on December 13.<ref name="T-P 12-13-35">{{cite news |title=Throng to rally at Bonnet Carre Spillway today |newspaper=The Times-Picayune |location=New Orleans |date=December 13, 1935 |page=1}}</ref>

At this time, traffic was routed from Prairieville into Baton Rouge over the Jefferson Highway (today's [[Louisiana Highway 73|LA 73]]).  On the New Orleans end, travelers had the option to continue on Airline Highway and follow Metairie Road (the original route of Jefferson Highway) into town or transfer to the Jefferson Highway (today's [[Louisiana Highway 48|LA 48]]) at Kenner and follow the direct connection onto [[Claiborne Avenue|South Claiborne Avenue]] completed in 1928.

The first improvements to the Airline Highway began in 1935 and consisted of widening and re-surfacing the Kenner-Shrewsbury link built a decade earlier.  The new four-lane section from Williams Boulevard to Haring Road opened in October 1937.<ref name="T-P 10-30-37">{{cite news |title=Shrewsbury-Kenner Air Line Highway link open to traffic |newspaper=The Times-Picayune |location=New Orleans |date=October 30, 1937 |page=1}}</ref>  The new four- and six-lane section from Haring Road to Labarre Road opened in December 1938.<ref name="T-P 12-20-38">{{cite news |title=Short-cut road on Baton Rouge route is opened |newspaper=The Times-Picayune |location=New Orleans |date=December 20, 1938 |page=3}}</ref>  The latter project included a slight re-alignment and extension on the Shrewsbury end.  (Present-day Robertson Street is a remnant of the old alignment.)  The eight-lane extension into Tulane Avenue (reached by a now-demolished six-lane bridge over the former [[New Basin Canal]]) was officially opened on August 26, 1940.<ref name="T-P 8-25-40">{{cite news |title=Air-Line Highway bridge ceremony slated Monday |newspaper=The Times-Picayune New Orleans States |location=New Orleans |date=August 25, 1940 |page=1}}</ref>

Also in 1940, the [[Huey P. Long Bridge (Baton Rouge)|Old Mississippi River Bridge]] opened in Baton Rouge.  With this occurrence, a 7.9 mile bypass was built around the city that went to the Nesser Overpass, opening to traffic in July 1941—this bypass was part of Airline Highway, but it was not connected to the rest of the highway until 1953.  A further extension continued west to the Atchafalaya Bridge at Krotz Springs.  The remainder of the highway was multilaned in sections during the 1940s and the 1950s.  For a short time in that decade, it was the longest toll-free four-lane highway in the nation, as the multilaned portion ran 124 miles from the [[Atchafalaya River]] to New Orleans.<ref name="T-P 8-17-52">{{cite news |title=Nation's longest toll-free four-lane highway nearing finish |newspaper=The Times-Picayune New Orleans States |location=New Orleans |date=August 17, 1952 |page=2}}</ref>  The spillway bridge carried four very narrow lanes of traffic (often resulting in accidents) until 1984 when a parallel bridge was constructed.<ref name="T-P 3-30-84">{{cite news |title=New bridge over spillway opens quietly |newspaper=The Times-Picayune/The States-Item |location=New Orleans |date=March 30, 1984 |pages=1–26}}</ref>

The majority of the New Orleans-Baton Rouge section was built parallel to the [[Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company]], which was itself built later than the slightly longer [[Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad]]. The former Louisiana Railway, now part of the [[Kansas City Southern Railway]], crosses the Huey Long Bridge with the highway and splits to the northwest towards [[Shreveport (LA)|Shreveport]]; the extension to [[Opelousas (LA)|Opelousas]] parallels the [[New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway]] (later part of the [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]]).

Originally US Highways [[U.S. Route 65|65]] and [[U.S. Route 51|51]] were cosigned to Airline (65 the entire length, and 51 from LaPlace to New Orleans).  In 1951, Louisiana truncated the route lengths, and the highway, with the exception of a portion in north Baton Rouge, is signed as US 61.

In an effort to clean up the highway's notorious history due to the seedy hotels and motels that once lined it, the portion in Jefferson Parish has been renamed '''Airline Drive.'''