Interstate 59 (I-59) is an
Interstate Highway
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
located in the southeastern United States. It is a north–south route that spans from a junction with
I-10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...
and
I-12 at
Slidell, Louisiana, to a junction with
I-24
Interstate 24 (I-24) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It runs diagonally from I-57, south of Marion, Illinois, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, at I-75. It travels through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, ...
near
Wildwood, Georgia.
The highway connects the metropolitan areas of
New Orleans, Louisiana;
Birmingham, Alabama; and
Chattanooga, Tennessee, running closely parallel to the older
U.S. Route 11
{{Infobox road
, country=USA
, type=US
, route=11
, map={{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, frame-height=330, type=line, from=U.S. Route 11.map
, map_custom=yes
, map_notes=US 11 in red, US 11E in blue, US 11W in ...
(US 11) corridor for the entire distance. Approximately one-third of the route, spanning from
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...
, to
Birmingham, Alabama, overlaps that of the east–west
I-20
Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. Between ...
.
I-59 is a four-lane
freeway along its entire route, other than a short stretch extending from north of
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, through Birmingham, where it widens to six lanes or more.
Route description
, -
, LA
,
, -
, MS
,
, -
, AL
,
, -
, GA
,
, -
, Total
,
Louisiana
I-59 spans in Louisiana, the shortest distance in the four states through which it travels. The route begins at a partial
cloverleaf interchange
A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passes over or under the ...
with
I-10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...
(exit 267) and I-12 (exit 85) at the northeast corner of
Slidell, a city in
St. Tammany Parish
St. Tammany Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Tammany) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana named after Tamanend, the legendary Lenape Chief of Chiefs and the "Patron Saint of America." At the 2020 census, the population was 2 ...
. From this interchange, connections are made to
New Orleans and
Hammond
Hammond may refer to:
People
* Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist
* Hammond (surname)
* Justice Hammond (disambiguation)
Places Antarctica
* Hammond Glacier, Antarctica
Australia
*Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in South ...
, as well as
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Bay St. Louis is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Mississippi, in the United States. Located on the Gulf Coast on the west side of the Bay of St. Louis, it is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of ...
. Heading north, I-59 has two exits serving the town of
Pearl River, where it begins a concurrency with
US 11. Immediately afterward, the highway crosses the West Pearl River and passes through an interchange with Old US 11, a portion of the pre-Interstate alignment serving the
Pearl River Wildlife Management Area
Pearl River Wildlife Management Area, also known as Pearl River WMA, is a tract of protected area near Slidell, Louisiana, Slidell in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, in the United States. The WMA is managed by the Lou ...
. I-59 then travels through the
Honey Island Swamp for before crossing the main branch of the
Pearl River into Mississippi.
Mississippi
In Mississippi, I-59 continues to run parallel with US 11, traversing mainly rural areas but going through or bypassing the towns of
Picayune
A picayune was a Spanish coin, worth half a real or one sixteenth of a dollar. Its name derives from the French ''picaillon'', which is itself from the Provençal ''picaioun'', the name of an unrelated small copper coin from Savoy. By extension, ...
,
Poplarville,
Hattiesburg,
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
,
Ellisville,
Laurel, and
Meridian
Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to
Science
* Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon
* ...
.
For its length in Mississippi, I-59 either
runs concurrently with, or runs close to,
US 11. Between the towns of Pearl River and Picayune, US 11 travels concurrent with I-59. The highway also has concurrencies with
US 98 in Hattiesburg;
Mississippi Highway 42 (MS 42) just north of Hattiesburg;
US 84 and
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 that began in 2006. 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 speed limit, one of the lowest anywhere on the Interstate Highway System. This work was completed in 2009.
Just west of Meridian, I-20 joins I-59 and these two highways continue together for , across the border with
Alabama to and through Birmingham. The exit numbers are given as those of I-59.
At 4:00 pm 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
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
. This was a previously agreed to joint plan by the states of
Mississippi and
Louisiana called
contraflow lane reversal. The program began at the Louisiana–Mississippi state line and continued north to
Poplarville.
Alabama
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 crossover interchange of I-20/I-59 and I-65 (commonly called "Malfunction Junction"). 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 Gadsden may refer to:
Places
*Gadsden, Alabama
**Gadsden Depot, a United States Army Depot in the city of Gadsden, Alabama
*Gadsden, Arizona
*Gadsden, Indiana
* Gadsden, South Carolina
* Gadsden, Tennessee
* Gadsden County, Florida
* Gadsden Ind ...
and
Fort Payne
Fort Payne is a city in and county seat of DeKalb County, Alabama, DeKalb County, in northeastern Alabama, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 14,877.
European-American settlers gradually developed th ...
in the foothills of the
Appalachian Mountains before entering
Georgia.
I-59 from Gadsden at milemarker 182 to Stephen's Gap at milemarker 193 had degraded over the decades since it was opened into a rough concrete highway. Between 2010 and 2014, a construction project called "Project 59" took place between Gadsden and Fort Payne. This project consisted of reconstructing the Interstate Highway with unbonded concrete (without any space cracks) as well as modifications to the width and vertical clearance of the bridges and overpasses in the segment.
Georgia
I-59 has a short trek through Georgia, with only three exits before ending at I-24 several miles west of
Chattanooga, Tennessee, in
Wildwood, Georgia. The entire route of I-59 in Georgia is named Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway. I-59's southbound location is marked Birmingham instead of Gadsden in Georgia. Gadsden is the next city that I-59 southbound is traveling to right before the route reaches Birmingham. For services, I-59 has no direct access to the Georgia Welcome Center, instead I-59's Georgia Welcome Center is located in
Trenton. Drivers must take I-59 Trenton exit 11 to get access to the Georgia Welcome Center. Within Georgia, it carries unsigned designated as State Route 406 (SR 406) for internal
Georgia Department of Transportation
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is the organization in charge of developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the U.S. state of Georgia. In addition to highways, the department also has a limited role in developin ...
(GDOT) purposes.
National Highway System
The entire length of I-59 is part of the
National Highway System, a system of routes determined to be the most important for the nation's economy, mobility, and defense.
Exit list
Auxiliary routes
*
I-359 in
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
*
I-459 in
Birmingham, Alabama
*
I-759 in
Gadsden, Alabama
Gadsden is a city in and the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located on the Coosa River about northeast of Birmingham and southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan ...
See also
*
*
*
References
External links
*
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Transportation in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
Transportation in Pearl River County, Mississippi
Transportation in Lamar County, Mississippi
Transportation in Forrest County, Mississippi
Transportation in Jones County, Mississippi
Transportation in Jasper County, Mississippi
Transportation in Clarke County, Mississippi
Transportation in Lauderdale County, Mississippi
Transportation in Sumter County, Alabama
Transportation in Greene County, Alabama
Transportation in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama
Transportation in Jefferson County, Alabama
Transportation in St. Clair County, Alabama
Transportation in Etowah County, Alabama
Transportation in DeKalb County, Alabama
Transportation in Dade County, Georgia