Louisiana Highway 17

Winnsboro to Delhi From the south, LA 17 begins at a junction of five numbered highways located at the four-way intersection of Front Street, Kinloch Street, and Taylor Avenue in Winnsboro. US 425/LA 15 passes through this intersection on Front Street, the city's main thoroughfare, en route to Monroe on the north. To the south, US 425/LA 15 travels toward Natchez, Mississippi running briefly concurrent with westbound LA 4. Opposite the southern terminus of LA 17, LA 130 begins and heads west on Taylor Avenue toward Liddieville. From this junction, LA 17 heads east on Kinloch Street, an undivided two-lane thoroughfare, running concurrent with eastbound LA 4. After a few blocks, the highway makes a zigzag onto Main Street and widens to an undivided four-lane highway with a center turning lane. Just outside the city limits, the roadway curves to the northeast while LA 4 turns off to the southeast toward Newellton. Returning to two-lane capacity, LA 17 proceeds through rural Franklin Parish. After , the highway passes through the small community of Crowville and intersects several minor state highways, including LA 577, which connects to Baskin on the west. Over the remaining in Franklin Parish, LA 17 continues northeast through rural farmland and intersects several more minor highways, including LA 132 to Mangham. In West Carroll Parish, LA 17 proceeds northeast through the village of Epps. A junction with LA 134 here leads to the ancient Native American earthworks of the Poverty Point State Historic Site and National Monument, one of only 23 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the United States. Over the next , LA 17 passes through the rural communities of Darnell, Pioneer, and Forest before reaching the town of Oak Grove, the seat of West Carroll Parish. LA 17 heads north into town on Constitution Avenue and widens to an undivided four-lane highway with a center turning lane. In the center of Oak Grove, LA 17 intersects LA 2 (Main Street), connecting with Lake Providence to the east and Bastrop to the west. These are the seats of neighboring East Carroll and Morehouse parishes, respectively. North of Oak Grove, LA 17 narrows to an undivided two-lane highway once again. After passing the tiny rural communities of Terry and Chickasaw, the highway enters the village of Kilbourne. Traveling on Kilbourne Avenue, LA 17 reaches its final junction, LA 585 (Louisiana Avenue). The highway ends later at the Arkansas state line, where the road continues towards Eudora, Arkansas as Arkansas Highway 159 (AR 159). The posted speed limit is generally in rural areas, reduced to between and through town. ==History==

Pre-1955 route numbering In the original Louisiana Highway system in use between 1921 and 1955, LA 17 was designated as State Route 16. It was created in 1921 by an act of the state legislature as one of the first 98 state highway routes. The western terminus of Route 16 was originally located just outside Winnsboro at the present junction of LA 4/LA 17 and LA 864. Route 15, which retained its number in the 1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering, followed the path of current LA 864 and LA 4/LA 17 through town at this time. In the early 1940s, Front Street was completed along the now-abandoned Missouri Pacific Railroad line, streamlining the path of Route 15 through Winnsboro. The Route 16 designation was then extended west into town to maintain its junction with Route 15. In 1930, a short section of the route through Oak Grove was hard-surfaced. Paving was completed south from Oak Grove to Delhi in 1932 and north from Oak Grove to Kilbourne in 1936. The remainder of Route 16 between Winnsboro and Delhi was paved in 1941. Post-1955 route history LA 17 was created in 1955 as a direct renumbering of former Route 16. Since the 1955 renumbering, very few changes have been made to the alignment of LA 17. During the late 1980s, a curve was smoothed out between LA 132 and the Franklin–West Carroll parish line. McDowell Road, a local road, is a remnant of the original alignment there. About this same time, a more significant improvement was carried out that streamlined the route through Oak Grove. The original route followed the Missouri Pacific Railroad to the center of town then made a zigzag east onto Main Street and north onto Briggs Street to rejoin the railroad line and the current alignment. After the abandonment of the MoPac line, the four-lane Constitution Avenue alignment was constructed upon its right-of-way. ==Major intersections==