Mississippi State Highway System
| Mississippi Highway System | |
|---|---|
   Standard route shields for Interstate, U.S. Highways, and state highways, respectively | |
| System information | |
| Length | 11,164.467 mi[1] (17,967.468 km) |
| Highway names | |
| Interstates | Interstate X (I-X) |
| US Highways | U.S. Route X (US X) |
| State | Mississippi Highway X (MS X) |
| System links | |
The Mississippi State Highway System is a network of roads that are maintained by the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT). This network includes Interstate, U.S., and state highways.
Highway systems
[edit]Interstate highways
[edit]There are nine interstate highways within the state of Mississippi. This includes six primary interstates and three auxiliary interstates. The longest interstate is I-55, and the shortest interstate is I-110.
U.S. routes
[edit]In the state of Mississippi, there are 14 U.S. highways. The longest is US 49, and the shortest being US 425.
Mississippi highways
[edit]State highways in Mississippi have different numbering schemes. The primary highways are numbered from 1-76, and most three-digit numbered routes are numbered by region (300s in the northernmost part of the state, 600 in the southernmost). Three-digit numbered routes from 700s to 900s are usually short connectors and spurs.
Other highways
[edit]Natchez Trace Parkway starts in Natchez and ends at Nashville, Tennessee. The parkway is maintained by the National Park Service.
History
[edit]In 1928, Mississippi Governor Theodore G. Bilbo appointed Horace Stansel head of a committee to investigate the state's highway needs. Stansel submitted an act to create a state highway system to the state legislature in 1930. Since then, Mississippi has gradually expanded its highway system.
Until 1987, there were but two major four-lane highways in Mississippi, not counting the Interstates, which were built during the 1960s and 1970s: U.S. Highway 49 (US 49) from Yazoo City to Gulfport and US 82 between Greenville and Winona. Things changed when the state legislature launched the $1.3 billion Four-Lane Highway Program of 1987.[2] This program gradually allowed for the funding of over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of four-lane highway statewide. In 2002, the Four-Lane Highway Program was expanded in what was known as Vision 21.
MDOT was not created until 1992; this organization consolidated several services that already existed.
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ Mississippi Department of Transportation Planning Division (December 31, 2015). Mississippi Public Roads Selected Statistics Extent, Travel, and Designation (PDF) (Report). Mississippi Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
- ^ Nash, Jere & Taggart, Andy (December 19, 2006). "The Passage of the 1987 Highway Program". Daily Journal. Retrieved December 29, 2006.