Louisiana Highway 20 (LA 20) is a state highway that serves Terrebonne Parish,

Lafourche Parish Lafourche Parish (french: Paroisse de la Fourche) is a parish located in the south of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Thibodaux. The parish was formed in 1807. It was originally the northern part of Lafourche Interior Parish, whi ...

, and St. James Parish. It spans a total of as a two lane, undivided road.

Route description

From the south, LA 20 begins at LA 182 in the northwest Terrebonne Parish town of

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

. The road parallels then intersects U.S. 90 ( Future I-49) at two locations (Exits 189 & 194) as it heads northeastward, where it intersects LA 24 in Schriever. LA 20 turns due north and intersects LA 1 in

Thibodaux Thibodaux ( ) is a city in, and the parish seat of, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 15,948 at the 2020 census. Thibodaux is a principal city ...

as it continues northward. The road then passes through Chackbay before it enters St. James Parish. LA 20 runs northward through

South Vacherie South Vacherie is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. James Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,543 at the 2000 census. In French, the name defines a cattle range for grazing. Geography South Vacherie, is located at (29.9 ...

and ends at an intersection with LA 18 in North Vacherie.

History

In 1972, LA 20 was routed off of Jackson Street in downtown Thibodaux and onto parallel Canal Boulevard, a four-lane, largely residential thoroughfare. The extension of Canal Boulevard north of

Bayou Lafourche Bayou Lafourche ( ), originally called Chetimachas River or La Fourche des Chetimaches, (the fork of the Chitimacha), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 20, 2011 ba ...

was to be opened soon, bypassing St. Patrick Street. The route change was opposed by Thibodaux's mayor, Warren Harang, and the Louisiana Department of Highways agreed to keep truck traffic routed via Jackson Street, which was retained as LA 20 Spur. By the late 1990s, LA 20 was routed back onto Jackson Street, reinstating a short concurrency with LA 1 from St. Mary Street to West 1st Street and utilizing LA 308 to connect with North Canal Boulevard. In Vacherie, LA 20 originally turned east along LA 18 and crossed the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

by ferry to Lutcher. It then followed what is now LA 3274 to a terminus at

US 61 U.S. Route 61 or U.S. Highway 61 (U.S. 61) is a major United States highway that extends between New Orleans, Louisiana and the city of Wyoming, Minnesota. The highway generally follows the course of the Mississippi River and is designat ...

(

Airline Highway Airline Highway is a divided highway in the U.S. state of Louisiana, built in stages between 1925 and 1953 to bypass the older Jefferson Highway. It runs , carrying U.S. Highway 61 from New Orleans northwest to Baton Rouge and U.S. Highway 19 ...

). The ferry service was replaced by the newly opened

Gramercy Bridge The Gramercy Bridge (officially the Veterans Memorial Bridge), is a cantilever bridge over the Mississippi River connecting Gramercy, Louisiana in St. James Parish, Louisiana, St. James Parish with St. John the Baptist Parish. It is the second ne ...

(or Veterans Memorial Bridge) in May 1995, and LA 20 was truncated to its present terminus in Vacherie two years later.

Route description

History

Major intersections

References

External links