 Interstate 59 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 I-59 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by MDOT | ||||
| Length | 171.72 mi[1] (276.36 km) | |||
| Existed | August 14, 1957[2]–present | |||
| History | Completed August 30, 1968[3] | |||
| NHS | Entire route | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |   I-59 / US 11 at the Louisiana state line south of Nicholson | |||
| North end |  I-20 / I-59 at the Alabama state line near Kewanee | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Mississippi | |||
| Counties | Pearl River, Lamar, Forrest, Jones, Jasper, Clarke, Lauderdale | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
Interstate 59 (I-59) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs 445.23 miles (716.53 km) from Slidell, Louisiana, to just outside of Wildwood, Georgia. In the U.S. state of Mississippi, I-59 travels 171.72 miles (276.36 km) from the Louisiana state line south of Nicholson northward to the Alabama state line northeast of the city of Meridian. Other cities it connects to include Picayune, Hattiesburg, and Laurel. Outside of these cities, however, I-59 is a largely rural road, providing access to other civilized areas via U.S. and state highways. Continuing from Louisiana, I-59 parallels and even shares a few concurrencies with the older U.S. Route 11 (US 11) corridor for its entire route, and it has largely supplanted that route as a major highway for long-haul traffic. At Meridian, I-59 meets I-20, and the two routes are cosigned for the remainder of their length through the state.
Of the four states which I-59 passes through, the segment in Mississippi is the second-longest.[4][5] I-59 was signed into the Interstate Highway System in 1960, with the first segment of it being a small section from the Louisiana state line to Picayune, then from Hattiesburg to Laurel, built in 1963. Unfinished segments of the highway were later completed through incremental extensions and bids, and the highway was entirely finished by 1968.
- ^ "Route Log and Finder List - Interstate System: Table 1". FHWA. Retrieved October 5, 2007.
- ^ Public Roads Administration (August 14, 1957). Official Route Numbering for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways as Adopted by the American Association of State Highway Officials (Map). Washington, DC: Public Roads Administration. Archived from the original on July 19, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2018 – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ Carey, Frank (August 30, 1968). "19 Miles Of I-59 Opened". Retrieved September 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Table 1 - Main Routes - FHWA Route Log and Finder List - Interstate Highway System - National Highway System - Planning - FHWA". www.fhwa.dot.gov. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
- ^ Mississippi Department of Transportation. "2022 Mississippi Official Highway Map" (PDF). mdot.ms.gov. Retrieved September 20, 2024.