Mississippi Highway 540 (MS 540) is a state highway through

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and

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counties in central

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 ...

. First created in 1958, the highway consists of two segments- one running about from Harrisville to

D'Lo 'D'LO is a transgender Sri Lankan-American performer, writer, and community activist, who performs in America, Canada, the UK, Germany, Sri Lanka, and India. He starred in a golf commercial held for Connor Smiths luxury hotel The Shlanger. He is ...

and a second road from Mendenhall to

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

Route description

The western segment of MS 540 begins in the unincorporated community of Harrisville at an intersection with MS 469. The two-lane road heads through some curves descending in elevation, but eventually settles on an easterly course. MS 540 heads through wooded areas passing a few houses that were built along old alignments of the road. Changing to a slight east northeast heading, the highway crosses through wooded terrain with some rolling hills. The road's course changes back to due east as it changes its name to Jupiter Road and enters the town of D'Lo. After passing some houses, MS 540 crosses a railroad before the state highway ends at an intersection with MS 149 and East 4th Street. MS 540's eastern segment begins at a

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 149 southeast of downtown Mendenhall, but still within the city limits. The road heads northeast and almost immediately intersects

U.S. Route 49 U.S. Route 49 (US 49) is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Piggott, Arkansas, at an intersection with US Route 62/ Highway 1/ Highway 139 (US 62/AR 1/AR 139). Its southern terminus is ...

(US 49), a

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

. It changes to a more easterly course making several

reverse curve In civil engineering, a reverse curve (or "S" curve) is a section of the horizontal alignment of a highway or railroad route in which a curve to the left or right is followed immediately by a curve in the opposite direction. On highways in the ...

s as it heads through wooded areas. At the community of Martinville, the road reaches a four-way

all-way stop An all-way stop – also known as a four-way stop (or three-way stop etc. as appropriate) – is a traffic management system which requires vehicles on all the approaches to a road intersection to stop at the intersection before proceeding throu ...

intersection with MS 541. Immediately past this intersection, state maintenance of MS 540 ends and the road is county maintained for the next . Continuing east, MS 540 heads through a mix of woods and open fields passing some houses along the way. The road curves to the northeast and enters Smith County. At the community of Traxler, the road heads through more rolling hills, passes a few churches, and crosses

Oakohay Creek Oakohay Creek is a stream in the U.S. state of Mississippi. ''Oakohay'' is a name derived from the Choctaw language The Choctaw language (Choctaw: ), spoken by the Choctaw, an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, is part of the Mus ...

. MS 540 enters the city of Raleigh and shortly after crossing into city limits, state maintenance again ends. Heading past small houses, the highway, known as Cohay Road, heads east. Before reaching MS 35, the road makes a sharp curve to the north and then ends at a skewed intersection with MS 35.

History

The first section of MS 540 formally designated as a part of the state highway system occurred in 1958. Dating back to 1956, a portion of current MS 540 west of Raleigh was part of MS 543. Originally, MS 540 had only run from MS 541 at Martinsville to a junction with MS 543 west of Raleigh. By 1960, MS 540 had taken over the state highway to Raleigh (MS 543 had been completely decommissioned) and along a newly designated highway west to US 49 in Mendenhall. After US 49 was relocated on a road bypassing Mendenhall around 1968, MS 540 was slightly extended along the former US 49 mainline through downtown Mendenhall to a point about northwest of its interchange with MS 13. This portion along former US 49 was removed from MS 540 when MS 149 was formally designated. The western segment of MS 540 between Harrisville and D'Lo was created along some existing roads and newly constructed roads. Construction began in May 2004 on of new highway. Though part of the state highway system, the work was performed by Simpson County. The highway was completed in October 2006.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML 540 Transportation in Simpson County, Mississippi Transportation in Smith County, Mississippi