Louisiana/Highway Classification

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A guide to classifying roads in Louisiana.

Important Regional Centers

These are major cities located in or near Louisiana.

Inside Louisiana

Alexandria, LA

Baton Rouge, LA

Lafayette, LA

Lake Charles, LA

Monroe, LA

New Orleans, LA

Shreveport, LA

Outside Louisiana

Pine Bluff, AR

Texarkana, AR

Gulfport, MS

Hattiesburg, MS

Jackson, MS

Beaumont, TX

Houston, TX

Longview, TX

Lufkin, TX

Highway Classification

LADOTD provides an open data map on highway classification which acts as a guide for tagging highways on OpenStreetMaps. In order to provide a universal standard across OSM, OpenStreetMap definitions will differ from LADOTD classification. It is recommended to review the 2021 Highway Classification Guide in order to understand OSM's definitions.

Louisiana's Classification Guide require a highway to meet several conditions based on LADOT's Functional Class, traffic control such as speed limits and weight restrictions, and local knowledge. For example a road may qualify as a Primary if it is a Minor Arterial AND starts and terminate at a Trunk. Or if it is a Major Collector but links a Motorway to a regional or international airport AND starts and terminate at a trunk.

OSM OSM Definition Example
Motorway Highway with no at-grade intersections and controlled access. All interstates in Louisiana fit this category. I-10

Raceland-M.C. Expressway

Trunk Highways that are the best route between important regional centers and don't meet the physical criteria for motorway.

Add expressway=yes to indicate sections of highway with enhanced infrastructure not quite to motorway standards.

US 171

US 61 Lake Pontchartrain Causeway

Primary A highway that meets at least two of the following conditions:

- Highway is classified as a Minor Arterial or higher by LADOT

- A major route that links directly to a Trunk or Motorway.

- Links trunk or motorway to important infrastructure such as major hospitals. regional or international airports, universities, sea ports, etc.

- Best non-trunk route between large commercial areas, place=suburb, place=town, place=city, or place=parish.

Use expressway=yes on Primaries that meet the OSM Definition of an expressway.

Old Jefferson Hwy

US 71

Secondary A highway that meets two of the following conditions:

- Classified by the LADOT as Minor Collector or higher.

- Links tertiary and minor roads to a Primary, Trunk, or Motorway.

- Route connecting medium size commercial areas, place=quarter, and place=village to a primary, Trunk, or Motorway.

- Highway with minor weight restrictions, lower speed limits, low clearance, and other restrictions compared to a nearby primary but would be under-classified as a tertiary.


Use expressway=yes on Secondaries that meet the OSM Definition of an expressway.

Tiger Bend Road

LA 967

Tertiary A highway that meets two of the following conditions:

- Starts at a highway=residential, highway=unclassified, or highway with a higher classification and end at a secondary or higher classification.

- Route connecting place=neighbourhood, place=hamlet, and minor commercial districts to a secondary or higher classified road.

- A highway with a dead end but has wider lanes, higher speed limits, given priority through intersections, and less restrictions than nearby residential or minor roads. Tertiaries that start as a dead end or "stub" MUST end at a road with a higher classification.

- City street that link non-residential service roads to secondary or higher classification.

Constitution Ave

Old US 51 LA 958

Residential/Minor Highways in residential areas not intended for through traffic may be considered a Residential road. A road not intended for through traffic but does not serve a residential area, qualify as a tertiary or higher classification, nor fit the definition of a service or track road may be considered a Minor Road.

List of Motorways

A complete list of motorways in Louisiana based on consensus by OSM community. The sections "To" and "From" is meant only to provide a general idea of the connections between important regional centers within and outside Louisiana. Although most are direct connections, some may require changing from one motorway to another such as a route from Baton Rouge to Jackson, MS in which motorists would use I-12 and then switch to I-55 to reach Jackson. If "Motorway Status Starts/Ends" is blank then the motorway begins and ends in another state and is considered a motorway when passing through Louisiana. It is up to the state's local mapping community on when a motorway begin or end. Please check this list before adding or removing motorways.

Name From To Motorway Status Starts Motorway Status Ends
I-10 New Orleans Gulfport, MS

Houston, TX

Baton Rouge

Lafayette

Lake Charles

I-12 Baton Rouge Jackson, MS

Hattiesburg, MS

Gulfport, MS

I-10 (Baton Rouge) I-10 (Slidell)
I-20 Monroe Texarkana, AR

Jackson, MS

Longview, TX

Shreveport

I-49 Lafayette Texarkana, AR

Alexandria

Shreveport

I-10 (Lafayette)
I-55 New Orleans Jackson, MS I-10 (LaPlace)
I-59 New Orleans Hattiesburg, MS I-10 (Slidell)
I-110 Baton Rouge Baton Rouge I-10 (Baton Rouge) US 61
I-210 Lake Charles Lake Charles I-10 (Lake Charles) I-10 (Lake Charles)
I-220 Shreveport Shreveport Inner Loop Expressway I-20 (Bossier City)
I-310 New Orleans New Orleans I-10 (Kenner) US 90
I-610 New Orleans New Orleans I-10 (New Orleans) I-10 (New Orleans)
I-910 (unsigned) Westwego New Orleans I-10 (New Orleans) US 90
Earhart Expressway Harahan New Orleans Hamilton Street Dickory Avenue
Inner Loop Expressway Shreveport Shreveport I-220 LA 523
Raceland-M.C. Express New Orleans Lafayette LA 308 Berwick Road South
Pineville Expressway Alexandria Alexandria I-49 (Alexandria) Shreveport Highway
US 90 Lafeyette New Orleans Captain Cade Road East Main Street

List of Trunk Roads

This is a list of highways confirmed to be a trunk road by the OSM community. If "Trunk Status Ends" is blank, then the trunk status would end in another state and it is up to that state's local mapping community to determine where the trunk ends. Multiple locations in Trunk Status Starts/Ends indicate that the road becomes a motorway at certain points. Please check this list before adding or removing a trunk road.

Name From To Trunk Status Starts Trunk Status Ends
LA 6 Alexandria Lufkin, TX I-49
US 61 New Orleans Memphis, TN I-10
US 90 New Orleans Lafayette Carmadelle Street I-10 (Contains several sections of Motorway status prior to ending at I-10)
US 165 Alexandria Monroe Pineville Expressway US 425
US 171 Shreveport Lake Charles I-10 Inner Loop Expressway
US 425 Baton Rouge Pine Bluff, AR US 61
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway New Orleans Covington I-10 I-12

Interchanges and Highway Links

When tagging a road as a Motorway Link, Trunk Link, Primary Link, etc. the link's classification must match the highest classified road it connects to. If a link connects a Motorway and Trunk then the link should be a Motorway. Links that connect a Primary and Secondary road should be tagged as Primary. This applies to any links from separated turn lanes to interchanges with on/off ramps. Please see the wiki's Highway _link page for more details.

Useful Resources

LADOTD Functional System Map

Voting

Instructions for voting
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{{vote|yes}} --~~~~ Feel free to also explain why you support proposal.
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  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. --A Flappy Civic (talk) 17:33, 29 March 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. You mentioned that you were working with other local mappers on slack, but I don’t see any mention of other local mappers on your page. I’m also curious why it was put to a public international vote for a regional page, but in any case I’m in full support of road classification efforts in the southeast like this. --SherbetS (talk) 18:00, 30 March 2023 (UTC)
  • I abstain from voting but have comments I have comments but abstain from voting on this proposal. Is this proposal complete? – Minh Nguyễn 💬 15:47, 9 April 2023 (UTC)