Louisiana Highway 182


Louisiana Highway 182 is a state highway located in central and southeastern Louisiana. It runs in a northwest to southeast direction from LA 29 in Whiteville to U.S. Highway 90 north of Raceland.
Along the way, the highway serves the cities of Opelousas, Lafayette, New Iberia, Morgan City, and Houma. LA 182 is generally bannered as a north-south highway north of Lafayette and as an east-west highway from Lafayette to Raceland. Today, most of LA 182 follows the previous alignments of US 90 and US 167 before their re-routing onto newer four-lane alignments. Additionally, the former US 90 alignment between Lafayette and Raceland was once part of the earlier Old Spanish Trail and is still known as such in many places along the route.

Route description

Whiteville to Lafayette

From the northwest, LA 182 begins at an intersection with LA 29 in an area of northern St. Landry Parish known as Whiteville. It proceeds in a southeast direction to an intersection with LA 10 in Beggs. Here the two highways turn to the south and begin a concurrency, passing through an interchange with I-49 south of Macland. In Washington, LA 182 and LA 10 intersect LA 103, which heads to Ville Platte to the west. In Nuba, the concurrency with LA 10 ends at an intersection with US 167 as LA 10 turns west to follow US 167. Just to the east, US 167 joins I-49 through Opelousas to Lafayette.
In Opelousas, LA 182 intersects US 190 on its path between Eunice and Krotz Springs. South of Opelousas and an area known as Shuteston, LA 182 turns to the east into Sunset and the adjacent Grand Coteau. Here it intersects LA 93, which connects LA 182 to I-49/US 167 just to the east and proceeds toward Arnaudville. LA 182 crosses over I-49/US 167 with ramps to frontage roads that connect to the LA 93 interchange. Just after exiting Grand Coteau, LA 182 turns to the southeast and crosses into Lafayette Parish.
Soon after crossing the parish line, LA 182 intersects I-49 once more and turns to the south through Carencro. LA 182 curves to the southeast, enters the city of Lafayette, and intersects I-10 between Lake Charles on the west and Baton Rouge on the east.

Lafayette to Morgan City

Nearing downtown Lafayette, LA 182 intersects US 90 and begins a concurrency with US 90 Business along University Avenue. From this point to the remainder of its route, LA 182 follows the former alignment of US 90.
At Johnston Street, LA 182 and US 90 Business intersect US 167, which is now separated from I-49 and runs southwest to Abbeville. A few blocks later, US 90 Business turns northeast onto Pinhook Road to rejoin US 90. Meanwhile, LA 182 turns southwest and follows the same thoroughfare, curving southeast out of Lafayette and into Broussard. Here LA 182 intersects LA 89-1 connecting to Youngsville just to the south. Nearing the parish line, LA 182 approaches US 90 and runs alongside it briefly. It then crosses US 90 via an interchange and intersects LA 96 to St. Martinville, turning southeast along the BNSF/Union Pacific Railroad tracks into St. Martin Parish.
LA 182 passes briefly through the southwest corner of St. Martin Parish, intersecting LA 92-1 in an area known as Cade. It then crosses into Iberia Parish, immediately intersecting LA 88. LA 182 enters New Iberia and separates to follow St. Peter Street eastbound and Main Street westbound throughout the city limits. It intersects a number of state highways, including LA 86, which follows Bayou Teche north to Loreauville, and LA 14, which proceeds west through Delcambre to Abbeville. LA 182 also begins to parallel Bayou Teche out of New Iberia, through Jeanerette, and into St. Mary Parish.
In St. Mary Parish, LA 182 passes through Baldwin and Franklin, cutting across some wide bends in Bayou Teche. In Baldwin, LA 182 intersects LA 83, which heads west to Cypremort Point. Southeast of Franklin at a point known as Calumet, LA 182 briefly joins US 90 across the Wax Lake Outlet bridge. Splitting from US 90, LA 182 proceeds along Bayou Teche and the Lower Atchafalaya River through Patterson, Bayou Vista, and Berwick with no state highway junctions. In Berwick, LA 182 again connects with US 90 but maintains its own parallel bridge crossing over the Lower Atchafalaya River/Berwick Bay into Morgan City.

Morgan City to Raceland

In Morgan City, LA 182 proceeds briefly along Brashear Avenue then curves south through an interchange with US 90 and an intersection with LA 70. Here the route becomes co-signed as US 90 Business out of Morgan City and into Assumption Parish. After crossing Bayou Boeuf, LA 182 passes briefly through the southern tip of Assumption Parish. The concurrency with US 90 Business ends at an intersection with LA 662 just inside the parish line as US 90 Business heads north on that highway to reconnect with its parent route.
After crossing into Terrebonne Parish, LA 182 intersects LA 20, which heads toward Schriever and Thibodaux. Here, in an area known as Gibson, LA 182 turns to the southeast away from US 90, which bypasses Houma to the north. LA 182 follows a long stretch of Bayou Black into Houma where it turns north across the bayou at an intersection with LA 315. The highway continues through Houma on Barrow Street and crosses Bayou Terrebonne, where it makes a jog onto New Orleans Boulevard via a brief concurrency with LA 24, Houma's main thoroughfare. LA 182 follows New Orleans Boulevard north out of town and crosses into Lafourche Parish.
Just south of Raceland, LA 182 engages in an interchange with US 90 and continues north into town. Reaching Bayou Lafourche, LA 182 turns east briefly onto LA 1 before turning north and crossing the bayou. The highway reaches its end at a final junction with US 90, which continues northeast toward New Orleans.

History

The original route of LA 182 as designated in the 1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering included only the northernmost section from LA 29 in Whiteville to LA 10 in Beggs. It was subsequently extended southeast over former sections of US 167 and US 90 bypassed by newer, four-lane alignments. The upgraded US 167 was later absorbed into the southernmost part of I-49.
The first extension of LA 182 occurred about 1962 when US 167 was shifted onto a new four-lane alignment between Opelousas and Sunset. Around 1965, this alignment was extended south from Sunset to Lafayette and from Lafayette to Broussard. At this time, a section of US 90 west of Morgan City was bypassed. LA 182 now continued south from Sunset along former US 167 to Lafayette, along former US 90 to Broussard, and was co-signed with US 90 to Calumet. Here, LA 182 split from US 90 to follow the two bends of Bayou Teche that had been bypassed between Calumet and Berwick. The intervening section of US 90 was gradually re-routed over the next two decades onto its current alignment as follows:
Meanwhile, the US 90 bypass of Raceland was opened in 1978 with the old alignment becoming LA 3198 and LA 3199. LA 182 replaced these routes upon its final extension in 1999 with the completion of the US 90 freeway between Morgan City and Raceland.

Major intersections