Travelers on Louisiana Highway 21 north of U.S. Interstate 12 to just past Walgreen’s on Louisiana Highway 1085, also known as Bootlegger Road, will be shifting lanes again on Friday.

The difference this time is that the end of the road, or rather the beginning of the new road with more lanes north and south bound, is finally in sight.

During Thursday night, the lane shifts will be marked from I-12 to Murphy Road, the new road just north of Walgreen’s. The newly constructed lanes will be home for the next six months to the thousands of cars and trucks that travel daily in each direction from I-12 to points north on La. 21 toward Covington.

Murphy Road, the new road north of Walgreen's and Louisiana Highway 1085/Bootlegger Road, will be a vital turn lane for those traveling Louisiana Highway 21 north of Interstate 12. (Staff Photo by Debbie Glover)

Although long range plans involve a four- to five-lane highway from I-12 to Eighth Avenue in Covington, including a widening of the bridge across the Tchefuncte River, phases two and three of the widening project that involves much of the business corrider of La. 21 should be complete in November, said Tom Beale, parish public information assistant.

To assist with the shifting lanes of traffic, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies and Covington Police Department officers will be directing traffic at intersections where there is no traffic signal, including Zinnia Drive, Hyacinth Drive and Murphy Road, said Beale. Officers will not be present where there are currently traffic signals.

The intersection of La. 21, Ochsner Boulevard and Pinnacle Parkway will include a left turning lane onto Ochsner Boulevard from La. 21 northbound. Traffic continuing northbound will shift lanes at the light, merging into a single northbound lane.

Traffic needing to make a U-turn at the intersection in order to go southbound will need to turn right onto Pinnacle Parkway, make a U-turn back to the light and turn left to go southbound. Conversely, southbound traffic that needs to make a U-turn to proceed north will turn right onto Ochsner Boulevard, U-turn back to the light and turn left to proceed northbound on La. 21.

From Ochsner Boulevard until Murphy Road, there will be one single through-lane of traffic in each direction, including the Bootlegger Road/La. 1085 intersection.

Between Ochsner Boulevard and Murphy Road, there will be three opportunities to make U-turns: Hyacinth Drive, Greenbriar Boulevard/Zinnia Drive and Murphy Road. This means that customers leaving businesses on La. 21 have to turn right and proceed to the next U-turn lane to change direction, similar to U. S. Highway 190 in Covington.

There will be left turn and U-turn lanes at each of the three intersections to prevent traffic buildup.

Although it sounds confusing, Beale said once motorists follow the new traffic procedures once or twice, the new traffic patterns will become clear.

When phase 2 is complete, the final preparations on the center lanes will take only a month, said Beale. The three phases should be totally complete in November.

Meanwhile, the parish is allowing affected businesses to place additional signage to indicate where motorists can access the business. When all phases are complete, there will be six lanes, three in each direction, from I-12 to Murphy Road.

There is no timetable for the rest of the widening effort as of yet.

Beale said the bridge project is currently in the environmental stage with the state, but there is no start date for the remainder of the project through Covington.