The Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival returns Friday through Sunday (April 12-14), bringing traffic jams on nearby interstate highways as visitors flood into the small Tangipahoa Parish town.
More than 300,000 visitors are expected in the downtown Ponchatoula area for the festival, Louisiana State Police Troop L said in a news release Thursday. The town has only 7,800 fulltime residents.
Exiting at Ponchatoula off Interstate 55 takes visitors right to Main Street, but the most direct path into town gets extremely congested during festival weekend.
Look for the gigantic strawberry — a perfect selfie spot in this Louisiana festival town
The increased traffic is likely to overload the surrounding interstate system, causing dangerous backups from the heavily congested off-ramps, the release said.
If those backups become too unwieldy, State Police may close interstate exits to relieve congestion.
To avoid backups or blocked exits, the police are asking visitors to take alternate routes into Ponchatoula. Troop L recommended the following routes.
From New Orleans: Take the Causeway Bridge into Mandeville and proceed to LA 22 west into Ponchatoula.
From Baton Rouge: Exit Interstate 12 eastbound at Pumpkin Center exit No. 35, proceed south to LA 22, then continue east on LA 22 into Ponchatoula.
From Covington / Slidell: Exit Interstate 12 westbound at LA 445 exit No. 47, proceed south to LA 22, then continue west on LA 22 into Ponchatoula.
From Mandeville: Take LA 22 west into Ponchatoula.
"Louisiana State Police will be working closely with local law enforcement agencies to ensure everyone enjoys the festival and has a safe weekend," the release said. It added that additional troopers will be patrolling the area during the festival looking for aggressive and impaired drivers.
