Louisiana Highway 975 (LA 975) is a gravel

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in central Louisiana. It runs north–south for . The southern terminus is at Whiskey Bay in

Iberville Parish Iberville Parish (french: Paroisse d'Iberville) is a List of parishes in Louisiana, parish located south of Baton Rouge in the U.S. state of Louisiana, formed in 1807. The parish seat is Plaquemine, Louisiana, Plaquemine. At the 2010 U.S. census, ...

, and the northern terminus is east of

Krotz Springs Krotz Springs is a town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Atchafalaya River. The population was 1,198 at the 2010 census, down from 1,219 in 2000. It is part of the Opelousas–Eunice Micropolitan Statistical Area. His ...

at a junction with

U.S. Route 190 U.S. Route 190 (US 190) is an east–west United States Highway in Louisiana and Texas. Segments of US 190 will be upgraded to Interstate 14 (I-14); the first segment was opened on January 26, 2017. Route description , - , TX , , - , ...

(US 190) and the north, south LA 973, in Pointe Coupee Parish. The entire route traverses the Sherburne Complex WMA, which is a combined Sherburne WMA,

Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge The Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge is located about west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and one mile (1.6 km) east of Krotz Springs, Louisiana, lies just east of the Atchafalaya River. In 1988 under the administration of Governor Foster th ...

, and Bayou Des Ourse, managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The road runs between the Atchafalaya River and Whiskey Bay Pilot Channel on the west and the East Protection Levee on the east.

Route description

The short route actually runs south of

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

(I-10) a few miles and makes a loop. The access road from I-10, exit 127 south, has been barricaded and thus the only direction of travel is north. The route is a poorly maintained gravel road that, as most roads of this type, is very dusty during the dry season. Starting in Iberia Parish, LA 975 crosses into

St. Martin Parish St. Martin Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Martin) is a parish (administrative division), parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana, founded in 1811. Its parish seat is St. Martinville, Louisiana, St. Martinville, and the largest city is B ...

, then Pointe Coupee Parish before intersecting with US 190. The road travels north through the swampy bottomland of the Atchafalaya Basin, that is part of the Morganza Flood way system, and prone to severe flooding with high water. LA 975 passes Bobtail Bayou, intersects with Bayou Manuel Road, which is at the split of the Atchafalaya River and the beginning of the Whiskey Bay Pilot Channel, then passes the base of Big Alabama Bayou, intersecting with River Road. Continuing north, LA 975 begins to run between the Atchafalaya River, Little Alabama Bayou, and intersects with Happytown Road. At this point Coswell Bayou begins to run in between LA 975 and the Little Alabama Bayou to a point just north of the Point Coupee Parish line. LA 975 intersects Main Road before continuing to the northern terminus at US 190 and LA 973.

History

The route of LA 975 began as a simple trading trail then a lumber tram road from the Town of Sherburne that sprang up around the 1880s and that disappeared when the lumber played out in the 1930s becoming a ghost town. The Sherburne WMA headquarters is located on the old town site alongside the highway. The primary function of the road now is north and south access to the wildlife management areas the road services as well as an access road to oil and gas wells.

Current

Planning has been ongoing for some time for the upgrade of the road. Ditches will be widened to minimize flooding but the ditches to the land side will have to be the focus of attention, so as not to damage nesting areas, as the entire route falls within the protected area of the Sherburn Complex.

Major intersections

References

{{Reflist 0975 Transportation in Iberville Parish, Louisiana Transportation in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana Transportation in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana