
Interstate 20 in Mississippi
I-20 | |||
Get started | Vicksburg | ||
End | Kewanee | ||
Length | 155 mi | ||
Length | 249 km | ||
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Interstate 20 or I -20 is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Mississippi. The highway runs from Vicksburg on the Louisiana border via the capital Jackson to Kewanee on the Alabama border. The highway is 249 kilometers long.
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Travel directions
I-20 at Morton, between Jackson and Meridian.
I-20/59 in Meridian.
I-20 near Jackson.
The highway crosses the Vicksburg Bridge over the Mississippi River, which crosses the Louisiana border. Interstate 20 in Louisiana comes from Shreveport and Dallas. In Vicksburg, US 61, which runs from Baton Rouge to Memphis, crosses the banks of the Mississippi. I-20 also passes through wooded area here. This portion of Mississippi is also sparsely populated. After about 60 kilometers you reach the city of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi with 184,000 inhabitants and an agglomeration of 530,000 inhabitants. On the west side of Jackson, Interstate 220 crosses the western bypassof the city. I-20 then runs 2×3 lanes through the south of the city. Interstate 55 merges from New Orleans on the south side. Three kilometers later, I-55 again turns off to head north to Memphis. The highway then narrows back to 2×2 lanes and leaves the city.
The route through central Mississippi is also very densely forested, and quite flat. US 80 runs parallel to the highway. No major roads are crossed as far as Meridian. On the west side of Meridian, Interstate 59 merges from New Orleans, both roads thereafter being double-numbered to Birmingham, which is the second longest double-numbering in the United States. Meridian is a regional town with 40,000 inhabitants. On the east side of Meridian you cross the US 45, which is a highway here. This road runs from Mobile in Alabama to Tupelo in northern Mississippi. At Kewanee, I-20 and I-59 cross the Alabama border , so theInterstate 20 in Alabama continues with Interstate 59 in Alabama towards Tuscaloosa and Birmingham.
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History
I-20 was built to replace US 80. West of Jackson this has mainly been along the route of US 80, east of Jackson the I-20 has been constructed parallel to US 80. US 80 largely parallels Interstate 20 from Dallas, but both routes split at the Alabama border, where I-20/I-59 veer northeast, while US 80 continues east to Montgomery. The exact opening dates of the I-20 are unknown. The Vicksburg Bridge over the Mississippi River opened on February 14, 1973.
The first section of I-20 opened in Meridian in the late 1950s or 1960s. Then a stretch opened east of Vicksburg, at the other end of the state. The highway was slowly built during the 1960s, the major openings dating from 1970 and 1971 when large parts of the route through central Mississippi were opened. Finally, the westernmost section, the Mississippi River Bridge, and the easternmost section, near the Alabama border, opened in 1973.
Opening history
The dates below are indicative and based on historical maps.
From | Unpleasant | Length | Opening |
Exit 150 | Exit 157 | 12 km | ~1960 |
Exit 4 | Exit 11 | 12 km | ~1964 |
Exit 157 | Exit 165 | 13 km | ~1964 |
Exit 109 | Exit 121 | 19 km | ~1965 |
Exit 121 | Exit 129 | 13 km | ~1967 |
Exit 165 | Exit 169 | 6 km | ~1967 |
Exit 11 | Exit 19 | 13 km | ~1968 |
Exit 44 | Exit 88 | 71 km | ~1970 |
Exit 100 | Exit 109 | 14 km | ~1970 |
Exit 34 | Exit 44 | 16 km | ~1971 |
Exit 88 | Exit 109 | 34 km | ~1971 |
Exit 121 | Exit 150 | 4 km | ~1971 |
exit 0 | Exit 4 | 6 km | ~1973 |
Exit 169 | Exit 172 | 5 km | ~1973 |
Future
It is planned to widen 7 kilometers of I-20 around Vicksburg to 2×3 lanes from US 61 to State Route 27.
Traffic intensities
22,000 vehicles drive daily on the Vicksburg Bridge over the Mississippi River on the Louisiana border. After that, 30,000 vehicles will travel between Vicksburg and Jackson, rising to 47,000 vehicles at I-220 and 90,000 vehicles between I-220 and I-55. The busiest point is on the double-numbered I-55 on the south side of Jackson with 119,000 vehicles per day. East of I-55, there are 79,000 vehicles per day, dropping to 20,000 to 25,000 vehicles on the rural route to Meridian. Thereafter, 30,000 to 46,000 vehicles will drive on the double-numbered I-59 in Meridian, then drop again to 21,000 vehicles on the Alabama border.
Lane Configuration
From | Unpleasant | lanes | Comments |
exit 0 | Exit 41 | 2×2 | |
Exit 41 | exit 48 | 2×3 | Jackson |
exit 48 | Exit 172 | 2×2 |