Judge Perez Drive
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Judge Perez Drive is a major, four-lane thoroughfare located in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. The road was originally named Goodchildren Drive, but was renamed in 1972 for former political boss of St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes, Judge Leander Perez (d. 1969). However, in the late 1990s, St. Bernard officials chose to distance themselves from Leander Perez's segregationist legacy, and instead dedicated Judge Perez Drive to the memory of Melvyn Perez, a long-time judge in St. Bernard. However, the term "Judge Perez" is typically associated with Leander Perez.
The thoroughfare, which carries the designation of Louisiana Highway 39, begins as West Judge Perez Drive in Arabi at the border between Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes as a continuation of North Claiborne Avenue. It becomes East Judge Perez Drive at its intersection with Paris Road (Louisiana Highway 47) and continues as such for several miles, finally narrowing to two lanes and then ending at Bayou Road, near St. Bernard High School. The roadway in some areas received severe damage during Hurricane Katrina, which submerged the Drive in as much as 14 feet of oil-polluted flood water in some areas. Temporary repairs have been made, but the road remains very rough.
