Cutting to the chase on Claycut Road

Three lights north of the I-10 intersection at Acadian Thruway lies Claycut Road.

Or is it Clay Cut?

A Google search turns up equal references for both entries. A drive along the residential road reveals one-word street signs at all the corners until you reach the 4500 block, where convention is defied and confusion is born with a sign for “Clay Cut Road” in front of Webb Memorial Park and Golf Course.

Justin Priola of the Baton Rouge City-Parish Planning Commission says the two-word moniker is just “a variation of the original spelling. An ordinance from 1961 refers to the street by the modern spelling, so it has been known as ‘Claycut’ for at least this long.”

Case closed: it’s Claycut.

A little more digging and we learn the road derives its name from Claycut Bayou, which was once called Clay Gut Bayou, a waterway paralleling Tiger Bend Road. In the early 20th century Claycut was part of the original links to New Orleans.

“Its former extensions were designated by the State Highway Department as the main highway serving points south from Baton Rouge,” Priola said. In other words, Claycut once served time as an extension of Airline Highway (U.S. Highway 61), the Ronald Reagan Highway (U.S. Highway 190), U.S. Highway 65 and part of the original LA 1, now known as Jefferson Highway.

A young adult working a summer camp at Webb Park suggested a practical explanation for it all.

“Maybe it’s just a mistake,” he said. “Maybe the Department of Transportation has yet to change that one sign. If you don’t like it, just call them up and complain.”