Mississippi Highway 18

Mississippi Highway 18
Mississippi Highway 18
Route information
	Maintained by MDOT
Length	185.5 mi (298.5 km) (177.654 mi excluding concurrencies)
Existed	1932–present
Major junctions
West end	US 61 in Port Gibson
	I-20 in Jackson; US 80 in Jackson; US 49 / MS 468 in Pearl; US 80 in Brandon; I-59 in Pachuta; US 11 in Pachuta; US 45 in Quitman;
East end	CR 20 at Alabama border near Quitman
Location
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
Counties	Claiborne, Copiah, Hinds, Rankin, Smith, Jasper, Clarke
Highway system
	Mississippi State Highway System; Interstate; US; State;

Mississippi Highway 18 (MS 18) is a state highway stretching across central Mississippi, from just a couple miles inland of the Mississippi River, through the state capital of Jackson, to the Alabama state line. It runs from east to west for 177.654 miles (285.906 km), serving 7 counties: Claiborne, Copiah, Hinds, Rankin, Smith, Jasper, and Clarke.

Route description

MS 18 begins in Claiborne County in Port Gibson at an intersection with US 61, just across the Little Bayou Pierre from downtown. It heads east as a two-lane highway through neighborhoods before leaving Port Gibson at an interchange with the Natchez Trace Parkway. The highway travels through somewhat hilly terrain for the next several miles, where it passes through Hermanville and Carlisle, before entering Copiah County. MS 18 travels through the northwestern corner of the county, where it passes through Carpenter, crosses Bayou Pierre, and passes by the Utica campus of Hinds Community College, before entering Hinds County.

MS 18 curves northeastward as it passes through the town of Utica, bypassing downtown along it southeast side as it has a concurrency (overlap) with MS 27. The highway travels through farmland for several miles, where it passes through Raymond (having a junction with MS 467 there) and widens to a four-lane divided highway, before entering the Jackson city limits and having an interchange with I-20 (Exit 40 A/B). MS 18 becomes concurrent with US 80 and they head east as a four-lane undivided highway through a business district to have an interchange with I-220/US 49 (Exit 1 A/B). US 80/MS 18 pass through a mix business districts and neighborhoods for a few miles as they travel just to the south of Jackson State University, while paralleling I-20/I-55 just to the north. The highway passes along the southern edge of downtown, where they have interchanges with West Street and US 51 (State Street), before crossing the Pearl River to leave both Jackson and Hinds County to enter Rankin County.

US 80/MS 18 immediately enter Pearl and widen to a divided highway as they pass under I-55 (without an interchange) and have an intersection with Old Highway 49 S before coming to an intersection between US 49 and MS 468 (Flowood Drive). MS 468 joins the concurrency and the highway passes a business district, where MS 468 splits off on Pearson Road, and US 80/MS 18 have an intersection with MS 475 (Airport Road) near Jackson–Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport before entering neighboring Brandon. The highway passes through some neighborhoods before entering a business district, where MS 18 splits off and heads south to have another interchange with I-20 (Exit 54) before narrowing to two-lanes. MS 18 bypasses downtown along its southern edge, passing through an extremely rural and wooded area for a few miles before passing through neighborhoods, where it has another intersection with MS 468 (Whitfield Road). The highway has an intersection with Louis Wilson Drive (Old MS 18) before leaving Brandon and traveling southeast through a mix of rural farmland and woodlands for the next several miles. MS 18 has an intersection with MS 43 before passing through Puckett, where it has an intersection with MS 13. The highway crosses a bridge over the Strong River to pass through Galilee, where it becomes concurrent with MS 541 before entering Smith County.

The highway passes through White Oak, where MS 541 splits off and heads north, and MS 18 travels east through woodlands (part of the Bienville National Forest) for several miles to enter Raleigh. MS 18 passes through neighborhoods and a business district before passing along the northern edge of downtown, where it has an intersection with MS 35. The highway now leaves Raleigh and travels through more woodlands to cross the Leaf River and have an intersection with MS 501 before passing through the village of Sylvarena. MS 18 now enters Jasper County.

MS 18 immediately enters Bay Springs at an junction with MS 531 and travels through some neighborhoods before passing through downtown, where it has an intersection with MS 15. It now leaves Bay Springs and heads northeast through a mix of farmland and wooded areas for several miles, where it has a short concurrency with MS 503, before passing through Rose Hill, where it has a junction with MS 513. The highway makes a sharp turn to the southeast for several miles to cross into Clarke County.

MS 18 travels through woodlands an interchange with I-59 (Exit 126) before straight through downtown Pachuta, where it has a concurrency with MS 512, as well as having an intersection with US 11. The highway leaves Pachuta and travels east through a mix of farmland and woodlands for several miles to become concurrent with MS 145 and they head north to cross the Chickasawhay River into Quitman. MS 18/MS 145 almost immediately enter downtown, with MS 18 splitting off at another junction with MS 512. MS 18 heads east through neighborhoods to cross over Archusa Creek Lake and have an intersection with MS 511 before coming to an interchange with US 45. MS 18 now leaves Quitman and travels east through remote, wooded, and hilly terrain for the next several miles (part of the North Central Hills portion of the Appalachian Mountains) to come to the Alabama state line, where MS 18 ends and the road continues into the state towards Butler as Choctaw County Road 20 (CR 20).^[2]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Claiborne	Port Gibson	0.0	0.0	US 61 – Natchez, Vicksburg, Grand Gulf State Park	Western terminus
		1.2	1.9	Natchez Trace Parkway	Interchange
	Hermanville	8.0	12.9	Old Highway 18 #4	To MS 548
	Hermanville	8.4	13.5	MS 819 south (Railroad Avenue)	Northern terminus of unsigned MS 819
Copiah	No major junctions
Hinds	Utica	27.0	43.5	MS 27 south – Crystal Springs	Western end of MS 27 overlap
		28.4	45.7	MS 27 north – Vicksburg	Eastern end of MS 27 overlap
	Raymond	44.6	71.8	MS 467 north – Raymond, Edwards	Southern terminus of MS 467
	Jackson	53.5– 53.9	86.1– 86.7	I-20 – Vicksburg, Meridian	I-20 exit 40
		54.3	87.4	John R. Lynch Street / Morson Road	Interchange
		54.7	88.0	US 80 west / MS 476 east – Clinton	Becomes unsigned; western end of US 80 overlap, western terminus of MS 476
		55.1– 55.5	88.7– 89.3	I-220 / US 49 – Vicksburg, Grenada, Yazoo City, Hattiesburg	I-220 exits 1 A/B
		58.8	94.6	West Street	Interchange; no access from to West Street from westbound US 80/MS 18
		59.1– 59.2	95.1– 95.3	US 51 (State Street) to I-20 / I-55 / US 49 – Downtown	Interchange
Rankin	Pearl	60.8	97.8	MS 149 south (Old Hwy 49) to US 49 – Richland	Northern terminus of unsigned Richland segment of MS 149
		60.8	97.8	MS 468 west to US 49 / I-20 / I-55 – Hattiesburg, Flowood, Grenada, McComb, Yazoo City, Vicksburg, MeridianModule:Jct error: Invalid "to" argument	Western end of MS 468 overlap
		61.9	99.6	MS 468 east (Pearson Road) – Whitfield	Eastern end of MS 468 overlap
		65.7	105.7	MS 475 (Airport Road) to I-20 / MS 25 – Jackson–Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, Whitfield
	Brandon	67.9	109.3	US 80 east (West Government Street) – Pelahatchie	Becomes back signed; eastern end of US 80 overlap
		68.2– 68.5	109.8– 110.2	I-20 – Meridian, Jackson	I-20 exit 54
		71.8	115.6	MS 468 – Whitfield, Brandon
	Puckett	88.8	142.9	MS 43 north – Pelahatchie	Southern terminus of northern segment of MS 43
	Puckett	90.4	145.5	MS 13 – Morton, Mendenhall
		93.2	150.0	MS 541 south – Magee	Western end of MS 541 overlap
Smith	White Oak	96.2	154.8	MS 541 north – Polkville	Eastern end of MS 541 overlap
	Raleigh	106.7	171.7	MS 35 – Forest, Mize
		114.3	183.9	MS 501 north – Forest	Southern terminus of MS 501
	Sylvarena	115.8	186.4	MS 917 north (Old 18 Drive)	Southern terminus of unsigned MS 917
Jasper	Bay Springs	120.4	193.8	MS 531 south – Taylorsville	Northern terminus of MS 531
	Bay Springs	122.0	196.3	MS 15 – Newton, Heidelberg, Laurel
		138.8	223.4	MS 503 south – Paulding, Lake Claude Bennett	Western end of MS 503 overlap
		138.9	223.5	MS 503 north – Hickory	Eastern end of MS 503 overlap
	Rose Hill	143.1	230.3	MS 513 south – Enterprise	Northern terminus of MS 513
Clarke	Pachuta	151.4– 151.6	243.7– 244.0	I-59 – Meridian, Laurel	I-59 exit 126
		153.1	246.4	MS 512 west – Lake Eddins, Paulding	Western end of MS 512 overlap
		153.3	246.7	US 11 – Sandersville, Heidelberg, Enterprise
		155.6	250.4	MS 512 east	Eastern end of MS 512 overlap
		164.5	264.7	MS 145 south – Waynesboro	Western end of MS 145 overlap
	Quitman	166.8	268.4	MS 145 north / MS 512 west – Meridian, Pachuta	Eastern end of MS 145 overlap; eastern terminus of MS 512
	Quitman	168.0	270.4	MS 511 south – Archusa Creek Water Park	Northern terminus of MS 511
		170.1	273.7	US 45 – Meridian, Waynesboro	Interchange
		185.5	298.5	CR 20 east – Butler	Alabama state line; eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access