Louisiana Highway 22

Louisiana Highway 22
Louisiana Highway 22
	Route of LA 22 highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by Louisiana DOTD
Length	71.147 mi (114.500 km)
Existed	1955 renumbering–present
Tourist; routes	Louisiana Scenic Byway; Southern Swamps Byway;
Major junctions
West end	LA 75 / LA 942 in Darrow
	LA 44 in Burnside; LA 70 in Sorrento; I-10 in Sorrento; US 61 in Sorrento; LA 16 south of French Settlement; LA 42 in Springfield; I-55 / US 51 in Ponchatoula; LA 21 in Madisonville;
East end	US 190 in Mandeville
Location
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parishes	Ascension, Livingston, Tangipahoa, St. Tammany
Highway system
	Louisiana State Highway System; Interstate; US; State; Scenic;

Louisiana Highway 22 (LA 22) is a state highway located in southeastern Louisiana. It runs 71.15 miles (114.50 km) in a general east–west direction from the junction of LA 75 and LA 942 in Darrow to U.S. Highway 190 (US 190) in Mandeville.

The route traverses a variety of terrain and surroundings over the course of its journey, which begins at the Mississippi River in rural Ascension Parish. It also crosses several navigable waterways with movable bridges spanning two of them: the Amite River and Tchefuncte River. After crossing both Interstate 10 (I-10) and US 61 in Sorrento, LA 22 winds through a cypress swamp in Livingston Parish west of Lake Maurepas.

Near the town of Springfield, the highway enters the thick pine forest characterizing the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain and intersects the concurrent I-55/US 51 in Ponchatoula. On its east end, LA 22 becomes a heavily traveled residential and commercial corridor in suburban St. Tammany Parish between Madisonville and Mandeville. This stretch runs south of the parallel I-12 corridor and feeds traffic onto US 190 and the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway to the New Orleans area.

LA 22 was designated in the 1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering, replacing portions of five shorter former routes. These included State Route 761, State Route 54, State Route 160, State Route 122, and State Route 465. In its early years, LA 22 extended across the Mississippi River by ferry to Donaldsonville prior to the existence of the nearby Sunshine Bridge. The route was also much shorter on its eastern end, terminating at a junction with US 51 and US 190 in Ponchatoula until the latter was re-routed through Covington.