U.S. Route 61 - Route Description - Louisiana

Louisiana

U.S. 61 in Louisiana is four-laned from its southern terminus in New Orleans to the Mississippi state line, where the highway continues to Natchez as a four-lane highway.

The section of U.S. 61 from New Orleans to Baton Rouge is known as the Airline Highway. Although the road fronts the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and passes near Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, the name originally referred to the highway's straight route which contrasted to that of the winding Jefferson Highway, which often paralleled the Mississippi River. Legend has it former Louisiana Gov. Huey P. Long advocated the building of the "airline" highway to provide a quick means from the capitol building in Baton Rouge to the bars and establishments in New Orleans so he could quickly travel between the two. On Airline Highway in Jefferson Parish in 1987, Baton Rouge televangelist Jimmy Swaggart was confronted by rival preacher Marvin Gorman as Swaggart exited the Texas Motel with a prostitute. This incident increased the area's reputation as a locale of 'seedy motels'. Partly because of that reputation, the section in Jefferson Parish was later renamed Airline Drive.