U.S. Route 11 in Louisiana - Route Description

Route Description

From the south, US 11 begins at an intersection with US 90 (Chef Menteur Highway) in Eastern New Orleans between Michoud and Venetian Isles. It proceeds north as an undivided, two-lane highway for 5.5 miles (8.9 km) through an area known as Irish Bayou to Point Aux Herbes, where it passes through an interchange with I-10 at Exit 254. US 11 immediately continues northeast onto the Maestri Bridge, a 4.8 mile (7.7 km)-long span across Lake Pontchartrain that parallels the I-10 Twin Span Bridge.

About midway across the lake, US 11 crosses from Orleans Parish (coextensive with the city of New Orleans) into St. Tammany Parish and begins to closely follow along the east side of the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) trestle. Making landfall in North Shore, US 11 becomes known as Pontchartrain Drive and passes through the community of Eden Isle. US 11 gains a center turning lane at Oak Harbor Boulevard, and immediately afterward, the highway enters the city of Slidell and widens to accommodate a second lane in either direction.

In Slidell, US 11 curves to the northwest and intersects LA 433 (Old Spanish Trail). The center lane disappears, and the two highways become concurrent for a short distance until an intersection with Front Street. Here, US 11 turns back to the northeast alongside the Norfolk Southern Railway tracks while LA 433 continues straight ahead across the rail line. US 11 follows Front Street through Slidell's historic district and intersects US 190 Business at Fremaux Avenue, beginning a brief concurrency for several blocks to an intersection with mainline US 190 at Gause Boulevard. Here US 190 Business reaches its western terminus, and US 11 continues northward along Front Street, narrowing again to an undivided, two-lane highway. Just beyond Indiana Avenue, a local street, US 11 crosses to the west side of the Norfolk Southern tracks via an overpass. Proceeding north for 1.0 mile (1.6 km), US 11 reaches the northern limit of Slidell and enters a partial cloverleaf interchange with I-12 at Exit 83, briefly widening to a divided, four-lane highway. I-12 heads west toward Mandeville and Covington and east to a major interchange with I-10 and I-59.

Returning to two-lane capacity, US 11 continues north through a sparsely-developed area known as Alton and intersects LA 1091 (Robert Boulevard). 1.0 mile (1.6 km) later, US 11 enters the town of Pearl River and intersects LA 41 (Watts Road), which heads north toward Bogalusa. From this intersection, LA 3081 continues north along Main Street while US 11 turns southeast onto Concord Boulevard. Shortly afterward, US 11 enters an interchange with I-59 at Exit 3, which also marks the northern terminus of LA 1090 (Military Road). US 11 turns north to follow the on-ramp to I-59 and utilizes the interstate's alignment for the remainder of the distance in Louisiana.

After 1.5 miles (2.4 km), I-59/US 11 reaches Exit 5A, which forms the northern terminus of LA 3081 and provides another connection to Pearl River. Immediately following this interchange, the highway crosses the northern town limit and proceeds onto a bridge over the West Pearl River. Just north of the bridge is Exit 5B, an interchange with a local road known as Old US 11, part of the pre-interstate alignment that now serves the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area. I-59/US 11 proceeds northward through the Honey Island Swamp and, after 5.3 miles (8.5 km), reaches its final interchange, Exit 11 (Pearl River Turnaround). It then crosses the main branch of the Pearl River into Mississippi at a point 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of Picayune.