Interstate 59
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| Interstate 59 Main route of the Interstate Highway System |
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| Length: | 444 mi[citation needed] (714.55 km) |
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| South end: |   I-10 / I-12 near Slidell, LA |
| Major junctions: |
 US 98 in Hattiesburg, MS US 84 in Laurel, MS I-20 in Meridian, MS US-82 in Tuscaloosa, AL I-65 in Birmingham, AL I-20 in Birmingham, AL |
| North end: |  I-24 in Wildwood, GA |
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Interstate 59 (I-59) is an Interstate Highway in the southern United States. Its southern terminus is near Slidell, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, at an intersection with Interstate 10 and Interstate 12[1], its northern terminus is at Wildwood, Georgia, at an intersection with Interstate 24[2].
The road's major purpose was to connect Birmingham, Alabama to Chattanooga, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana. Throughout its entire route, Interstate 59 is parallel with U.S. 11. The road is four lanes the entire route except the portions north of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and in the Birmingham metro area.
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[edit] Route description
| mi | km | |
|---|---|---|
| LA | 11 | 18 |
| MS | 171.716 | 276.350 |
| AL | 241 | 388 |
| GA | 20.57 | 33.27 |
| Total | 444 | 715 |
| Major cities Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs |
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[edit] Louisiana
From Slidell, I-59 heads northeast, passing very close to Pearl River before crossing both the west and east branches of the Pearl River. At the East Pearl River, I-59 leaves Saint Tammany Parish and enters Pearl River County, Mississippi.
[edit] Mississippi
In the Magnolia State, I-59 continues to parallel U.S. 11, going through or bypassing Picayune, Poplarville, Hattiesburg, Laurel and Meridian.
A notoriously sharp S-curve in Laurel is the subject of a large reconstruction project currently underway, with anticipated completion in August 2009. The infamous curves are the legacy of a pre-interstate freeway design, and feature a 40 mph (64 km/h) speed limit, one of the lowest anywhere on a US interstate highway.
Just west of Meridian, Interstate 20 joins I-59 and the two highways continue together for 145 miles (233 km), across the Alabama border and to Birmingham.
At 4:00 p.m. on August 27, 2005, for the first time in its history, the southbound lanes of Interstate 59 were temporarily redirected northward to accommodate evacuation for Hurricane Katrina. This was a previously agreed to joint plan by the states of Mississippi and Louisiana called Contraflow lane reversal. The program began at the Mississippi-Louisiana state border and continued 21 miles (33 km) north to Poplarville.
The Mississippi section of I-59 is defined in Mississippi Code Annotated § 65-3-3.
[edit] Alabama and Georgia
Interstates 59 and 20 are conjoined for much of their route through Alabama, passing northeastward through Tuscaloosa before finally parting ways in eastern Birmingham.
In Birmingham, many wrecks and accidents occur near the interchange of I-20/59 and Interstate 65. On two occasions, 18-wheelers crashed and burned fiercely enough to melt the support beams of overpasses. Because of the frequent and severe wrecks, this interchange is nicknamed "Malfunction Junction". From Birmingham, I-59 continues northeastward near Gadsden and Fort Payne before entering Georgia.
Interstate 59 has a very short trek through the Peach State, having only three exits before coming to an end at Interstate 24 several miles west of Chattanooga, Tennessee in Wildwood. During the entire length, the highway is designated State Route 406 but is not signed as such.[3]
[edit] Major Cities
Cities in bold are control cities.
- Slidell, Louisiana
- Picayune, Mississippi
- Signed, but not officially recognized as control city.
- Hattiesburg, Mississippi
- Laurel, Mississippi
- Meridian, Mississippi
- Tuscaloosa, Alabama
- Bessemer, Alabama
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Gadsden, Alabama
- Fort Payne, Alabama
[edit] Major intersections
- Interstate 10 and Interstate 12 at Slidell, Louisiana
- Interstate 20 from Meridian, Mississippi to Birmingham, Alabama.
- Interstate 65 at Birmingham, Alabama
- Interstate 24 at Wildwood, Georgia
[edit] Auxiliary routes
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[edit] References
- ^ Google, Inc. Google Maps [map]. Cartography by Tele Atlas. Retrieved on June 8, 2009.)
- ^ Google, Inc. Google Maps [map]. Cartography by Tele Atlas. Retrieved on June 8, 2009.
- ^ Georgia Deartment of Transportation, Office of Transportation Data (2003). Interstate Mileage Report (438 Report). http://www.dot.state.ga.us/DOT/plan-prog/transportation_data/400reports/2003/dpp438_2003.pdf.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Interstate 59 |
| Main Interstate Highways (multiples of 5 highlighted) |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 29 | 30 | |||
| 35 | 37 | 39 | 40 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 49 | 55 | 57 | 59 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 68 | 69 | ||||
| 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 (W) | 76 (E) | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | ||||||
| 83 | 84 (W) | 84 (E) | 85 | 86 (W) | 86 (E) | 87 | 88 (W) | 88 (E) | 89 | 90 | |||||||||
| 91 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 99 | (238) | H-1 | H-2 | H-3 | |||||||||
| Unsigned | A-1 | A-2 | A-3 | A-4 | PRI-1 | PRI-2 | PRI-3 | ||||||||||||
| Lists | Primary | Main - Intrastate - Suffixed - Future - Gaps | |||||||||||||||||
| Auxiliary | Main - Future - Unsigned | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other | Standards - Business - Bypassed | ||||||||||||||||||
