Great River Road
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Great River Road is a collection of state, provincial, federal, and local roads which follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States and one Canadian province. They are Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Ontario. A five-state section of the road has been designated a National Scenic Byway.
Developed in 1938, the road has a separate commission in each state and province. These in turn cooperate through the Mississippi River Parkway Commission (MRPC). The 2,340 miles (3,765 km) are designated with a green and white sign showing a river steamboat inside a spoked wheel with the name of the state or province. The over-all logo reads "Canada to Gulf" where the local name would be.
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[edit] Routing
[edit] West bank route
[edit] Louisiana
The west bank route uses the following roads in Louisiana:[1]
- Louisiana Highway 23, Venice to Gretna
- Louisiana Highway 18, Gretna to Harvey
- Louisiana Highway 541, Harvey to west of the Huey P. Long Bridge
- Louisiana Highway 18, west of the Long Bridge to Donaldsonville
- Louisiana Highway 1 in Donaldsonville
- Louisiana Highway 405, Donaldsonville to Plaquemine
- Louisiana Highway 75 and Louisiana Highway 1 in Plaquemine
- Louisiana Highway 988, Plaquemine to Port Allen
- Beaulieu Lane, Louisiana Highway 1, Avenue G, Alexander Avenue, Oaks Avenue (partly Louisiana Highway 987-6), South River Road (Louisiana Highway 987-5), Court Street (Louisiana Highway 987-4) and North Jefferson Avenue through Port Allen
- Louisiana Highway 986, Louisiana Highway 415, Louisiana Highway 416 and Louisiana Highway 1, Port Allen to New Roads
- Louisiana Highway 1, Louisiana Highway 15 and Louisiana Highway 131, New Roads to Vidalia
- U.S. Highway 84, Vidalia to Ferriday
- U.S. Highway 65, Ferriday to Arkansas
[edit] East bank route
[edit] Louisiana
The east bank route uses the following roads in Louisiana:[1]
- Louisiana Highway 23, Venice to Gretna (along the west bank route)
- U.S. Highway 90 Business, Gretna to New Orleans (across the Mississippi River)
- Tchoupitoulas Street, Exposition Boulevard, Magazine Street and Leake Avenue through New Orleans
- River Road (partly Louisiana Highway 611-1), Hickory Avenue and Louisiana Highway 48, New Orleans to Norco
- U.S. Highway 61 and Louisiana Highway 628, Norco to LaPlace
- Louisiana Highway 44 and Louisiana Highway 636-3 in LaPlace
- Louisiana Highway 44, Louisiana Highway 942, Louisiana Highway 75, Louisiana Highway 991 and Louisiana Highway 327, LaPlace to Baton Rouge
- Louisiana Highway 327 (River Road and Skip Bertman Drive/South Stadium Drive), Louisiana Highway 30 (Nicholson Drive), St. Louis Street/St. Philip Street one-way pair, Government Street, River Road (partly U.S. Highway 61/190 Business), through the State Capitol grounds, Capitol Lake Road (Louisiana Highway 3045), Interstate 110 and U.S. Highway 61 through Baton Rouge
- U.S. Highway 61, Baton Rouge to Mississippi
[edit] Ontario
Ontario also has a designated tourist route named the "Great River Road". It starts in Kenora, Ontario and travels along Highway 17/Trans-Canada Highway to Highway 71, where it heads south, staying close to Lake of the Woods. Upon meeting Highway 11 in Barwick, Ontario, the designation branches off into two directions: a spur heads west along Highway 11 to Rainy River, Ontario, while the main route travels east along Highway 11 to Fort Frances, Ontario.
It continues until it approaches Secondary Highway 502, travelling back up towards Dryden, Ontario, and looping back west along Highway 17 to Kenora.
[edit] Manitoba?
Some road maps (Rand McNally's road atlas in particular) also show the Great River Road routed through Manitoba, as far north as Lake Winnipeg. However, it is unclear if the road is signed in that province.
[edit] References
[edit] Bibliography
- "Discover America's Great River Road" by Pat Middleton, ISBN 0-9620823-8-4, Great River Publishing 1996
- "Life on the Mississippi: For the ultimate cross-country driving trip, travel down the Great River Road" by Paul Lukas, Money Magazine June 1, 2002
- "The Great River Road runs through 10 states -- and countless tales" by Zeke Wigglesworth, Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service July 10, 1995
