Interstate 59

Interstate 59
Route information
Length:	445.23 mi (716.53 km)
Existed:	1960 – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-10 / I-12 near Slidell, LA
	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; US-431 in Gadsden, AL
North end:	I-24 in Wildwood, GA
Highway system

Interstate 59 (I-59) is an Interstate Highway in the southern United States. Its southern terminus is near Slidell, Louisiana, a northeastern suburb of New Orleans, at its intersection with I-10 and I-12, and its northern terminus is at Wildwood, Georgia, at its intersection with I-24.

The highway's major purpose is to connect Chattanooga, Tennessee, and points north, with New Orleans via Birmingham, Alabama. Along its entire route, I-59 is parallel to U.S. Highway 11 (US 11). I-59 is a four-lane freeway along its entire route except for some portions north of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and in the Birmingham Metropolitan Area, where it is several lanes wider.

Route description[edit]

Lengths
	mi	km
LA	11	18
MS	171.716	276.350
AL	241	388
GA	20.57	33.27
Total	444	715

Louisiana[edit]

At the bottom of I-12's eastbound ramp to LA 59, travelers also find a shield for the unrelated I-59, some 20 miles (32 km) farther east

In the U.S. state of Louisiana, I-59 is shorter than it is in any other state: Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. From south-to-north, I-59 begins at its junction with I-10 and I-12 near Slidell. Then it bypasses Pearl River before crossing the West Pearl River and then the East Pearl River. At the East Pearl River, I-59 leaves Saint Tammany Parish and it enters Pearl River County, Mississippi.

Mississippi[edit]

In Mississippi, I-59 continues to run parallel with US 11, traversing mainly rural areas, but going through or bypassing the towns of Picayune, Poplarville, Hattiesburg, Ellisville, Moselle, Laurel, and Meridian.

For its length in Mississippi, I-59 either overlaps or runs close to US 11. Between the towns of Pearl River and Picayune, US 11 is overlapped by I-59. The highway also has concurrencies with US 98 in Hattiesburg; US 84 and Mississippi Highway 15 (MS 15) in Laurel, and US 80, US 11, and MS 19 in the Meridian area.

A notoriously sharp S-curve, at milepost 96 in Laurel, was the subject of a large reconstruction project. Those sharp curves were the legacy of an overpass over the Southern Railway on a town bypass with design dating from before the Interstate Highways, and they featured a 40 mph (64 km/h) speed limit, one of the lowest anywhere on the Interstate Highway System. This work was completed in 2009.

A stretch of I-59 in Mississippi

Just west of Meridian, I-20 joins I-59 and these two highways continue together for 145 miles (233 km), across the border with Alabama to and through Birmingham. The exit numbers are given as those of I-59.

At 4:00 p.m. on August 27, 2005, for the first time in its history, the southbound lanes of I-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 (34 km) north to Poplarville.

Alabama[edit]

I-59 (co-signed with I-20) approaching I-65 in downtown Birmingham.

I-59 and I-20 travel together for about 40 percent of their route through Alabama, passing northeast through Tuscaloosa before finally parting ways in eastern Birmingham.

In Birmingham, many wrecks and accidents occur near the cross-over interchange of I-20/I-59 and I-65. On two occasions, 18-wheelers crashed and burned fiercely enough to melt the support beams of overpasses. Beginning in eastern Birmingham, I-59 continues on its own northeast, passing by Gadsden and Fort Payne in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, before entering the Georgia.

I-59 from Gadsden at mile marker 182 to Stephen's Gap at mile marker 193 had degraded over the decades since it was opened into a rough concrete highway. Beginning in 2010 and over the next two years, a construction project called "Project 59" has been ongoing to resurface the highway. This project consists of repaving the Interstate Highway with unbonded concrete (without any space cracks). There has also been the raising and widening of the highway's bridges and overpasses.

Georgia[edit]

I-59 has a short trek through the Georgia, with only three exits before ending at I-24 several miles west of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in Wildwood, Georgia. During this stretch, the highway is also designated as Georgia State Route 406 for internal Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) purposes.^[2]

Exit list[edit]

County	Location	Exit	Destinations	Notes
St. Tammany	Slidell	1A	I-12 west – Hammond	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		0	I-10 east – Bay St. Louis	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			I-10 west – New Orleans	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		3	US 11 south / LA 1090 south – Pearl River	South end of US 11 overlap
	Pearl River	5A	LA 41 Spur – Pearl River
		5B	Honey Island Swamp
		11	Pearl River Turnaround
Pearl River		Louisiana–Mississippi state line
Pearl River		1	US 11 north / MS 607 south – Nicholson, Stennis Space Center	North end of US 11 overlap
	Picayune	4	MS 43 south – Picayune, Kiln	South end of MS 43 overlap
	Picayune	6	MS 43 north – North Picayune	North end of MS 43 overlap
		10	Carriere
		15	McNeill
		19	Millard
		27	MS 53 – Necaise, Poplarville
		29	MS 26 – Poplarville, Wiggins
		35	Hillsdale Road
	Lumberton	41	MS 13 – Lumberton
Lamar	Purvis	51	MS 589 – Purvis
Forrest		59	US 98 east – Lucedale, Mobile	South end of US 98 overlap
Forrest		60	US 11 – South Hattiesburg
Lamar	Hattiesburg	65	US 98 west (MS 198 east) / Hardy Street – Columbia	North end of US 98 overlap; signed as exits 65A (MS 198) and 65B (US 98) northbound
Forrest		67	US 49 / MS 42 west – Hattiesburg, Jackson	South end of MS 42 overlap; signed as exits 67A (south) and 67B (north)
		69	MS 42 east (Evelyn Gandy Parkway) – Petal	North end of MS 42 overlap
		73	Monroe Street
Jones		76	Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport
		78	Sanford Road
		80	Moselle
		85	MS 590 – Ellisville
	Ellisville	88	MS 29 – Ellisville
		90	US 11 (Ellisville Boulevard)
	Laurel	93	US 11 – South Laurel
		95	US 84 west / MS 15 north (16th Avenue)	South end of US 84 / MS 15 overlap; signed as exits 95A (south) and 95B (north)
		95C	Beacon Street	Laurel S-curve southbound
		96A	4th Avenue, Masonite Road
		96B	MS 15 south (Cook Avenue)	North end of MS 15 overlap
		97	US 84 east (Chantilly Street) – Waynesboro	North end of US 84 overlap
		99	US 11 (Ellisville Boulevard)
		104	Sandersville
Jasper		113	MS 528 – Heidelberg, Bay Springs
Jasper		118	Vossburg, Paulding
Clarke		126	MS 18 – Rose Hill, Pachuta
		134	MS 513 – South Enterprise
		137	North Enterprise
Lauderdale		142	Savoy
		149	I-20 west (US 80 west) – Jackson	South end of I-20 / US 80 overlap
	Meridian	150	US 11 south / MS 19 north – Philadelphia, Airport	South end of US 11 / MS 19 overlap
		151	Valley Road, 49th Avenue
		152	29th Avenue
		153	MS 145 south (22nd Avenue) – Quitman
		154	MS 19 south / MS 39 north (US 11 north / US 80 east) – De Kalb, Butler	North end of US 11 / US 80 / MS 19 overlap; signed as exits 154A (south) and 154B (north) northbound
		157	US 45 – Quitman, Macon	Signed as exits 157A (south) and 157B (north)
		160	Russell
		165	Toomsoba
		169	US 11 / US 80 – Kewanee
		Mississippi–Alabama state line
Sumter		1	To US-80 east – Cuba, Demopolis
		8	SR-17 – York
		17	SR-28 – Livingston, Boyd
		23	CR-20 – Gainesville, Epes
Greene		32	Boligee
		40	SR-14 – Aliceville, Eutaw
		45	Union
		52	US-11 / US-43 – Knoxville
Tuscaloosa		62	Fosters
	Tuscaloosa	68	Northport Tuscaloosa Western Bypass
		71	I-359 north / SR-69 – Tuscaloosa, Moundville	Signed as exts 71A (south) and 71B (north)
		73	US-82 (McFarland Boulevard)
		76	US-11 – Cottondale, East Tuscaloosa
		77	Cottondale
		79	US-11 / SR-7 – Coaling, Cottondale
		86	Brookwood, Vance
		89	Mercedes Drive
		97	US-11 south / SR-5 south – West Blocton, Centreville	South end of US-11 / SR-5 overlap
		100	Abernant, Bucksville	Unsigned eastern terminus for AL-216
Jefferson		104	Rock Mountain Lake	McAshan Drive
		106	I-459 – Gadsden, Montgomery, Atlanta
	Bessemer	108	US-11 north / SR-5 north (Academy Drive)	North end of US-11 / SR-5 overlap
		110	Alabama Adventure Parkway
		112	18th Street, 19th Street
		113	18th Avenue
		115	Allison–Bonnet Memorial Drive, Jaybird Road
	Fairfield	118	Valley Road – Fairfield
	Birmingham	119	Lloyd Nolan Parkway	Signed as exit 119A southbound
		119B	Avenue I	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		120	SR-269 (20th Street) / Ensley Avenue
		121	Bush Boulevard	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		123	US-78 (Arkadelphia Road) – Jasper
		124	I-65 – Montgomery, Huntsville	Signed as exits 124A (south) and 124B (north)
		125A	17th Street – Downtown Birmingham	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		125B	22nd Street – Downtown Birmingham	Signed as exit 125 southbound
		126A	US-31 (11th Avenue North) / US-280 east / Carraway Boulevard – Civic Center
		126B	31st Street North
		128	SR-79 (Tallapoosa Street)
		129	Airport Boulevard
		130	I-20 east – Atlanta	North end of I-20 overlap
		131	Oporto–Madrid Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		132	US-11 (1st Avenue North)
		133	4th Avenue South	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		134	To SR-75 (Roebuck Parkway)
	Trussville	137	I-459 – Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, Atlanta
	Trussville	141	Trussville, Pinson
		143	Deerfoot Parkway, Mount Olive Church Road
		148	To US-11 – Argo
Saint Clair		154	SR-174 – Odenville, Springville
		156	SR-23 – Ashville, St Clair Springs
		166	US-231 – Ashville, Oneonta
		174	Steele
Etowah	Attalla	181	SR-77 – Attalla, Rainbow City
	Attalla	182	I-759 – Gadsden
	Attalla	183	US-278 / US-431 – Attalla, Gadsden
	Gadsden	188	SR-211 to US-11 – Noccalula Falls Park
DeKalb		205	SR-68 – Collinsville, Crossville
	Douglas	218	SR-35 – Fort Payne, Rainsville
		222	US-11 – Fort Payne
		231	SR-40 / SR-117 – Valley Head, Hammondville
		239	To US-11 / Sulphur Springs Road
		Alabama–Georgia state line
Dade		4	Rising Fawn
	Trenton	11	SR 136 – Trenton
		17	Slygo Road – New England
		—	I-24 – Nashville, Chattanooga	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Concurrency terminus Closed/former HOV only Incomplete access Tolled/ETC Unopened

Auxiliary routes[edit]

References[edit]

^ USDOT — Federal Highway Administration (October 31, 2002). "Table 1: Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System Of Interstate & Defense Highways". FHWA Route Log and Finder List. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration.
^ Office of Transportation Data (2003). Interstate Mileage Report (438 Report) (PDF). Georgia Deartment of Transportation.

External links[edit]

Route map: Google / Bing

KML file (edit)

Media related to Interstate 59 at Wikimedia Commons

[FHWA_Dist-1] USDOT — Federal Highway Administration (October 31, 2002). "Table 1: Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System Of Interstate & Defense Highways". FHWA Route Log and Finder List. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration.

[2] Office of Transportation Data (2003). Interstate Mileage Report (438 Report) (PDF). Georgia Deartment of Transportation.

[1]

[2]

Interstate 59

Contents

Route description[edit]

Louisiana[edit]

Mississippi[edit]

Alabama[edit]

Georgia[edit]

Exit list[edit]

Auxiliary routes[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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