Also known as the Gramercy Bridge, this is the newest river crossing in Louisiana. A Mississippi River ferry boat tragedy that claimed 78 happened a few miles downstream. As a result, Louisiana is working hard to replace ferries with bridges. The Luling Bridge was built directly as a result of this disaster. The Sunshine and Gramercy Bridges followed. Since then, the TIMED program has been raising money for key highway projects, and it building the Audubon Bridge north of Baton Rouge.

While economic development really took off after the Sunshine bridge was built a few miles upstream, the Veterans Memorial Bridge has yet to realize its full potential. It has helped the farming industry in the area avoid hauling sugar cane the long way around some other river crossing. Beyond that, the highway going west into rural Louisiana has never been built, leading some to call this a bridge to nowhere.

The spectacular photo at the bottom was taken by Andy Jung from the window of an airliner just prior to landing at New Orleans. While I normally only use my own photography, this one was far too good to pass up. The lack of a connecting highway on the far side of the bridge is easily seen from this vantage point.

Update—In July, 2008, the 'Bridge To Nowhere' will finally be connected on both ends. The stub connection of the west end of the bridge will be extended two miles to meet with LA-3127. The west end formerly only connected to the Great River Road along the Mississippi River. The road has been finished for some time, however, the power company has taken months to run power one mile down the road to a railroad crossing. Without the railroad crossing being completed, the road could not be opened, making it a 'Road To Nowhere' for a short period of time.