It follows the original routing of LA 3026 for some distance, as the highway has been extended over time.

It also serves as a bypass around the residential areas of Pineville and Tioga.

It originally carried four lanes of LA 3026 across the Red River on a lift bridge, carrying the highway along a railroad line, past Louisiana College, and around Pineville to meet US 165.

Later in the 1970s, the Pineville Expressway connected north, bypassing Tioga and ending just south of the Grant Parish line.

US 71 remained on the alignment from US 165 through the VA complex, while US 167 was shifted completely, deleting the designation of LA 3026 in 1978.