Interstate 59 in Mississippi

Infobox road
route=59
type=I

---

alternate_name=
length_mi=182.716
length_round=
length_ref= [Federal Highway Administration Route Log and Finder List, [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/routefinder/table1.htm Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways as of October 31, 2002] ]
length_notes=
established=1957 (received official route number; MS section proposed as early as 1939)
city=
direction_a=South
terminus_a= state line
junction= in Meridian, MS
direction_b=North
terminus_b= line

In the U.S. state of Mississippi, Interstate 59 traverses mainly rural areas, but does go through or bypass Picayune, Hattiesburg, Laurel and Meridian.

Between the towns of Pearl River and Picayune, U.S. Route 11 overlaps I-59. The highway sees several more concurrencies: with U.S. Route 98 in Hattiesburg, U.S. Route 84 and Mississippi Highway 15 in Laurel, and U.S. Route 80, U.S. 11 and Mississippi Highway 19 in the Meridian area.

Also in the Meridian area, I-59 is joined by Interstate 20 and the two are conjoined until they reach Birmingham, Alabama. The exit numbers default to I-59's.

Major cities

Bolded cities are the officially-designated control cities:

* Picayune
** Though not an official control city, it was once posted on a sign at exit 67A-B on I-59 south. Mississippi is one of a few states that practice placing smaller cities on signs as control cities.
* Hattiesburg
* Laurel
* Meridian
* Tuscaloosa, Alabama
** Signed from Meridian northward.

The Laurel S-Curve

Just south of downtown Laurel between 16th and 4th avenues is a feature rarely seen on an Interstate highway. Planned in 1955 as a relocation of U.S. Route 11 and completed in 1961, Interstate 59 has a very sharp curve to the left, then to the right.

Approaching the S-shaped curve, the speed limit in the Laurel area drops from 70 miles per hour to 60 miles per hour (110 to 100 km/h) just outside of the city limits. Just north of exit 93 and just south of exit 97, respectively, the speed limit drops again to 50 mph (80 km/h). At the curves themselves, the speed limit drops to 40 mph (60 km/h), one of the lowest speed limits posted on an Interstate highway in the country. The reason for the low speed limit is the design of the highway, which includes no shoulders, tight entrance and exit ramps and the narrow overpasses.

Beginning in 1986, the Federal Highway Administration and the Mississippi Department of Transportation began an environmental assessment of the curve's replacement. An agreement was reached between the Housing Authority of Laurel, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, the FHWA and MDOT in 1992 that calls for the relocation of some of the city's public housing units and allowing for the relocation of I-59. [Mississippi Department of Transportation. [http://www.mdot.state.ms.us/business/S-Curve%20history.pdf S-CURVE PROJECT HISTORY] , six pages, includes map of project area with changes. MDOT Web site. Accessed April 23, 2007.]

After a minor update earlier this decade, a $27 million contract was awarded to Tanner Construction on June 27, 2006. The project includes a 4,000-foot (1.21 km) wider overpass, shoulders and new entrance and exit ramps. Construction is scheduled to be completed by August 2009. [Mississippi Department of Transportation. [http://www.gomdot.com/news/projects/default_statewide.htm Project Reports] . Interstate 59 S-Curve Relocation Project. Online. Accessed April 24, 2007.]

Exit list

References

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