The Huey P. Long bridge in Baton Rouge gives me so much anxiety. To be fair it's not really it's fault. Years ago...when I was a baby driver (before smart phone GPS and all that jazz) I had a flip phone and was trying hard not to get lost as eff and somehow ended up on the old HPL. In New Orleans. I honestly thought I would die that night on that high narrow bridge. My flip phone sent me to this narrow-and shaky ass bridge but I finally found my way to my people. To this day I do not trust my phones GPS. Fool me once, bitch. This bridge is old and definitely not as scary as the stress inducing old one Nola. Not my favorite bridge in the world but not my least fave. read more

The true measure of a bridge is that it gets you from one side to another in one piece. And old Huey's bridge has done that for me every time. This bridge opened in August of 1940, about five years after its namesake died in mysterious circumstances at the new State Capitol building. Now known as the "old bridge", there are some serious (and probably well-deserved) questions being asked about the structural integrity of this bridge, which is a question that's always worth asking when peoples' lives depend on this bridge. All the same, old Huey's bridge keeps working for me. read more

Known around town as "The Old Bridge", the Huey P. Long Bridge doesn't really live up to its name. In fact, it lives up to its nickname: really old looking, rusted out, and in need of renovation. In fact, this bridge is just fugly. Yeah, I said it right. Straight up fugly. You would think that it would be something like New York's Verrazano Bridge or even St. Peterburg's Skyway bridge. Nah uh. No decadence, no artistry. Just nothing but narrow lanes and rust. One good thing is that it doesn't have a toll at the beginning or end, which is probably something I would expect whenever the legislature builds another bridge and renames it the Bobby Jindal Bridge. I dig the truss cantilevered and steel design that this bridge has, but that's about it. Given its sole purpose of connecting Port Allen and Baton Rouge, I really hope that the Louisiana state legislature does something to get this bridge renovated to 21st century standards, and not to pre-1935 standards with a fresh coat of Earl Scheib paint. If not, I hope that this bridge gets renamed "Louisiana Embarrassment Bridge." Louisianans certainly deserve better than this. So glad that my car & I made it to the other side without falling into the Mississippi River. read more

Huey P. Long Bridge - Driving on the Huey P Long bridge, looking at 80 years of rust and disrepair and praying that the bridge doesn't tumble and fall. - Transportation Near Me

Shhhhh. Don't tell anyone about this bridge. It'll be our secret. Why do I want to keep this bridge a secret? Because it is an awesome way to avoid the inevitable interstate chaos that occurs on I-10. I first discovered this bridge many years ago by accident. I was cruising around BR and boom there was a bridge that looked just like the Huey P in Marrero. I hated that bridge like whoa so I blocked this bridge from my mind. Many years later I was headed down 49 when my Waze app beeped and advised me to GTFO of 49 and exit on to 190. That is when I realized a new route that completely avoided 10. That route included this bridge which, although narrow as hell, was free flowing and awesome. It may have been many more miles on my odometer, but it was miles spent moving instead of sitting. That's a win in my book. So should you drive this bridge all the time? I guess it depends on how much you hate traffic. It does force you to drive through several speed trap towns, but for me it's worth the risk of being pulled over. If you are scared of narrow lanes and a view of the river, I'd stick with the traffic hellhole BR Bridge. read more

Driving back from Shreveport, I was monitoring the traffic pretty closely on my phone. (I was the passenger don't worry.) And, yep, as usual I-10 to cross the Mississippi river was a mess. Directions diverted us to this bridge. It was wide and fast and zipped us over to 110 quickly. Phew. So yay for the old US Highway system and sorry to the folks stuck in an hour or more of traffic on a Saturday, just trying to get across the Mississippi. So yay for options! read more

The Huey P. Long Bridge (carrying US 190, the Airline Highway and one rail line) is the other span over the Mississippi between Port Allen and Baton Rouge. It's another ugly, yet interesting bridge of a truss cantilever design. I've crossed it mostly into Baton Rouge and when I needed to get to the Airport. It's kind of trick to get on from the Port Allen side and the last couple times has been partially covered with a tarp for what I assume to be some combination of lead removal and painting. read more