This route also remained largely unchanged during the pre-1955 era. The only exception was a re-alignment of the highway between Baker and Zachary sometime after 1937. This improvement eliminated two grade crossings of the Illinois Central (now the Gloster Southern) railroad tracks and streamlined the route through Zachary. The original route made a zigzag across the tracks north of Baker and followed what is now Old Baker-Zachary Road into Zachary. In the center of town, the route turned east onto Church Street back across the railroad line, then north onto East Central Avenue to rejoin the current alignment. Once bypassed, the original route was designated as State Route C-2174. The portion of this route within the Zachary city limits was retained in the 1955 renumbering as LA 1203.