Mississippi Highway 493 (MS 493) is a state highway in eastern

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

for a length of . It begins in the northernmost part of

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 * ...

and travels through rural northern Lauderdale County and western

Kemper County Kemper County is a county located on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,456. Its county seat is De Kalb. The county is named in honor of Reuben Kemper. The county is part ...

. The highway south of MS 16 is signed and maintained by the state while the portion north of it is

unsigned Unsigned can refer to: * An unsigned artist is a musical artist or group not attached or signed to a record label ** Unsigned Music Awards, ceremony noting achievements of unsigned artists ** Unsigned band web, online community * Similarly, the c ...

and is maintained by Kemper County.

Route description

MS 493 begins in the northern reaches of Meridian's city limits in the Poplar Springs neighborhood. The highway begins along Poplar Springs Drive on a curve where state maintenance begins along the road. Heading north, the highway first widens from two to four lanes in width, and passes through a commercial district passing numerous businesses and strip malls. As the road leaves the city limits, it narrows first to a two-lane road with a

center turn lane A reversible lane (British English: tidal flow) is a lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, by having overhead traffic lights and li ...

, then to only two lanes. It heads into more rural surroundings with woods and farmlands. At the settlement of Bailey, MS 493 intersects MS 495 at the latter's southern terminus. MS 493 heads through numerous small settlements, each generally comprising houses and a few churches. Continuing into Kemper County, MS 493 has similar surrounding as it did through northern Lauderdale County. It passes around the site of the

Kemper Project The Kemper Project, also called the Kemper County energy facility or Plant Ratcliffe, is a natural gas-fired electrical generating station currently under construction in Kemper County, Mississippi. Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Co ...

power plant in southern Kemper County. It later heads through the settlement of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, a relatively sparsely populated settlement with only some houses, farm facilities, and an eatery present. After passing an electric substation, the signed, state-maintained portion of MS 493 ends at a stop-controlled

T-intersection A three-way junction (or three-way intersection) is a type of road intersection with three arms. A Y junction (or Y intersection) generally has three arms of equal size coming at an acute or obtuse angle to each other; while a T junction (or T ...

with MS 16. Officially however, MS 493 resumes about to the east of here where it heads north along the county-maintained Lynville Road. The road passes along the edge of Joe Williams Field, an auxiliary air field of Naval Air Station Meridian. The two-lane road passes through a mix of farms and woods before ending in Lynville at MS 397.

History

MS 493 was created in 1956 running generally along the alignment it runs today. A state maintained gravel road had existed from Meridian to MS 16 since 1951. This alignment had generally been maintained since then. Around 1974, the portion of the highway north of MS 16 had been removed from state maintenance. However, this segment remains formally part of MS 493 to today. At its southern end, MS 493 formerly continued into downtown Meridian. It followed Poplar Springs Drive and 24th Avenue to end at 8th Street (which carried MS 19.

Major intersections

References

External links

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493 Year 493 ( CDXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Albinus and Eusebius (or, less frequently, year 1246 '' Ab urbe ...

Transportation in Lauderdale County, Mississippi Transportation in Kemper County, Mississippi