INTERSTATE 12

'Interstate 12' (abbreviated 'I-12') is an intrastate interstate highway located entirely within the state of Louisiana, United States. It starts in Baton Rouge, Louisiana^[1] where it branches off of Interstate 10, travels along the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, and ends at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Interstate 59 near Slidell, Louisiana^[2]. In 1993, the state legislature renamed Interstate 12 as the "Republic of West Florida Parkway". In 2003, signs identifying the highway's official name and bearing the flag of the Republic of West Florida were erected by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development in order to highlight the unique history of Louisiana's Florida Parishes. I-12 is six lanes from its western terminus until Exit 7 (O'Neal Lane) at which point it becomes a 4 lane highway all the way to the eastern terminus.
The highway is relatively short for a mainline route at only 85 miles (138 km) - while Interstate 19 (63 mi. / 102 km), Interstate 66 (76 mi. / 123 km), Interstate 86 (west) (63 mi. / 101 km), Interstate 97 (18 mi. / 28 km) and Interstate 99 (51 mi. / 82 km) are shorter, none of these have two termini with the same route, much less within the same state as well. Compare to the 73.5 mile (118 km) Interstate 295 in New Jersey and Delaware, which bypasses Interstate 95 or the 72.8 mile (117 km) Interstate 405 in California, which (arguably) bypasses Interstate 5.

Contents

Route description

History

Exit list

References

Route description

Major cities 'Bolded cities' are officially-designated control cities for signs
★ 'Baton Rouge, Louisiana' ★ 'Hammond, Louisiana' ★ 'Slidell, Louisiana'

History

With major damage to the I-10 Twin Span Bridge across Lake Pontchartrain from Hurricane Katrina, I-12 was temporarily ''functioning'' as I-10. On October 14, 2005 at 3:00 PM, the eastbound span of I-10 over Lake Pontchartrain was reopened to two-way traffic. The westbound span of I-10 reopened on January 6, 2006 at 6:00 AM, with speed, weight and size restrictions, relieving I-12 of much of the congestion that was clogging it from the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway to the junction with I-10 and I-59.

Exit list

Parish	Location	Exit #	Destinations	Notes
Western Terminus - Interstate 10 - Baton Rouge, Louisiana
East Baton Rouge	Baton Rouge		20 px I-10 - Baton Rouge
		1A	20 px I-10 - New Orleans
		1B	LA 3064 (Essen Lane)	Eastbound exit and westbound/eastbound entrances.
		1B	20 px 20 px LA 1068/ LA 73 (Drusilla Lane) - Jefferson Highway	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance only.
		2A	20 px U.S. Route 61 (Airline Highway)
		2B	20 px U.S. 61 (Airline Highway)
		4	Sherwood Forest Boulevard
		6	Millerville Road
		7	LA 3245 (O'Neal Lane)
East Baton Rouge-Livingston parish line		20 px crosses the Amite River
Livingston	Denham Springs	10	LA 3002 - Denham Springs
		12	LA 1026 (Juban Road)	Opened April 20, 2007.[3]
	Walker	15	25 px LA 447 Port Vincent, Walker
		19	Colyell, Satsuma
	Livingston	22	20 px LA 63 - Frost, Livingston
		29	25 px LA 441 - Holden
		32	20 px LA 43 - Springfield, Albany
Livingston-Tangipahoa parish line		20 px crosses the Natalbany River
Tangipahoa		35	Pumpkin Center Road, Baptist
		38A	20 px I-55 - New Orleans
		38B	20 px I-55 - Jackson
	Hammond	40	20 px U.S. Route 51 - Ponchatoula, Hammond	Exit to reach Southeastern Louisiana University.
		43	LA 3158 (Airport Road)
		47	LA 445 - Robert
St. Tammany		57	LA 1077 - Goodbee
		59	LA 21 - Madisonville, Covington
		63A	25 px U.S. Route 190 - Mandeville	Exit to reach to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.
		63B	25 px U.S. 190 - Covington	Exit to reach to Bogalusa.
		65	20 px LA 59 - Mandeville, Abita Springs
		74	25 px LA 434 - Lacombe, Saint Tammany
	Slidell	80	Northshore Boulevard, Airport Road
		83	U.S. Route 11 - Slidell, Pearl River
		85A	20 px I-10 - New Orleans
		85B	20 px I-59 - Hattiesburg
		85C	20 px I-10 - Bay St. Louis
Eastern Terminus - Interstate 10/ Interstate 59 near Slidell, Louisiana

References

1. map
2. map
3. Juban Road interchange at I-12 opens Press release, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Accessed April 21, 2007.