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Interstate 16
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==History== [[File:Macon, Georgia 1955 Yellow Book.jpg|thumb|Macon, Georgia, 1955 Yellow Book with I-16 route (to Savannah)|185px]] The first part of I-16 opened October 11, 1966, to traffic between US 319 (exit 51) in Dublin to SR 29 (exit 67) near Rockledge.<ref name="GDOT 1966">{{cite GDOT map |year=1966 |access-date=February 5, 2017 }}</ref> In 1968, the segment between US 280 to downtown Savannah was completed and opened.<ref name="GDOT 1968">{{cite GDOT map |year=1968 |access-date=February 9, 2017 }}</ref> By the early 1970s, I-16 was completed from downtown Macon at I-75 to Jeffersonville Road near [[Danville, Georgia|Danville]]. It was also extended from Dublin to [[Allentown, Georgia|Allentown]].<ref name="GDOT 1971">{{cite GDOT map |year=1971 |access-date=February 9, 2017 }}</ref><ref name="GDOT 1972">{{cite GDOT map |year=1972 |access-date=February 9, 2017 }}</ref> In 1973, the connection between Macon to Dublin was completed.<ref name="GDOT 1973">{{cite GDOT map |year=1973 |access-date=February 9, 2017 }}</ref> The last part of the I-16 opened on September 22, 1978, placing it in Emanuel, Candler, and Bulloch counties and completing the connection between downtown Macon and Savannah.<ref name="GDOT 1978">{{cite GDOT map |year=1978 |access-date=February 9, 2017 }}</ref> ===1990s=== [[File:Missing bridge over I-16.jpg|right|thumb|Collapsed bridge of SR 86 over I-16]] In 1999, [[Hurricane Floyd]] hit Georgia's coast. As a result, the eastbound I-16 lanes from Savannah to US 1 (exit 90) were [[Contraflow lane reversal|opened to westbound traffic]]. This marked the first time I-16 was turned into a one-way Interstate.<ref>https://planningtools.transportation.org/files/39.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> This contraflow traffic method has been used since, including in 2016 in evacuation efforts from [[Hurricane Matthew]] and 2017 for [[Hurricane Irma]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsbtv.com/news/georgia/the-latest-georgia-turns-i16-into-oneway-evacuation-route/454144565|title=The Latest: Georgia turns I-16 into one-way evacuation route|date=October 6, 2016|website=WSBTV|language=en-US|access-date=August 13, 2019|archive-date=August 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813193628/https://www.wsbtv.com/news/georgia/the-latest-georgia-turns-i16-into-oneway-evacuation-route/454144565|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.macon.com/news/local/article171785787.html|title=Parts of I-16 eastbound to close Saturday; lanes to reverse for Hurricane Irma evacuees|last=Corley|first=Laura|date=September 7, 2017|website=The Telegraph|access-date=August 13, 2019}}</ref> ===2000s=== Until 2000, the state of Georgia used the sequential interchange numbering system on all of its Interstate Highways. The first exit on each highway would begin with the number "1" and increase numerically with each exit. In 2000, the Georgia Department of Transportation switched to a mileage-based exit system, in which the exit number corresponded to the nearest milepost.<ref name="Jacksonville">{{cite news |url= http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/120199/met_1394766.html |title= Interstate Exit Signs to Get New Numbers in Georgia |first=Noelle |last=Phillips |work= [[The Florida Times-Union]] |date= December 1, 1999 |access-date= March 4, 2017}}</ref> In 2001, the [[Georgia General Assembly]] passed a resolution to designate the '''Earl T. Shinhoster Interchange''' at the interchange with Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Savannah in honor of [[Earl Shinhoster]],<ref>{{cite web|author=House of Representatives|date=April 19, 2001|title=House Resolution 182|url=http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2001_02/fulltext/hr182.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002084410/http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2001_02/fulltext/hr182.htm|archive-date=October 2, 2006|access-date=February 15, 2008|publisher=[[Georgia General Assembly]]|location=Atlanta, GA}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=State Senate|date=April 19, 2001|title=Senate Resolution 6|url=http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2003_04/fulltext/sr6.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208021135/http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2003_04/fulltext/sr6.htm|archive-date=February 8, 2012|access-date=February 15, 2008|publisher=Georgia General Assembly|location=Atlanta, GA}}</ref> who was a [[African American|black]] [[civil rights]] activist. This interchange is located in the economic and cultural center for Black Savannah.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url= http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2734 |title= The Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum |encyclopedia= The New Georgia Encyclopedia |first= Charles J. |last= Elmore |date= April 26, 2004 |access-date= February 15, 2008 |publisher= Georgia Humanities Council and the [[University of Georgia Press]] |archive-date= October 11, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071011111130/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2734 |url-status= dead }}</ref> In 2003, the [[Georgia General Assembly]] passed a resolution to designate I-16 in honor of James L. Gillis Sr.,<ref>{{cite web |author= House of Representatives |url= http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2003_04/fulltext/hr88.htm |title= House Resolution 88 |location= Atlanta, GA |publisher= Georgia General Assembly |date= March 27, 2003 |access-date= February 15, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120324125042/http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2003_04/fulltext/hr88.htm |archive-date= March 24, 2012 |url-status= dead }}</ref> a [[Democratic Party of the United States|Democrat]] who served as a [[Georgia House of Representatives|state representative]], [[Georgia State Senate|state senator]], and director of the [[Georgia Department of Transportation]], as the Jim Gillis Historic Savannah Parkway.{{cn|date=November 2024}} Gillis's sons, [[Hugh Gillis|Hugh]] and [[Jim L. Gillis Jr.|James Jr.]], also served as [[Democratic Party of the United States|Democratic]] state legislators. Hugh was a [[Georgia House of Representatives|state representative]] from 1941 to 1953 and a [[Georgia State Senate|state senator]] from 1953 to 1955 and from 1963 to 2005. James Jr. was a [[Georgia State Senate|state senator]] from 1945 to 1946.<ref>{{cite web |author= Staff |url=http://www.legis.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/peo_detail.pl?Leg=gass20 |publisher= Georgia General Assembly |title= Senator Hugh M. Gillis (D-SS 20) |date= February 2003 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080919124918/http://www.legis.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/peo_detail.pl?Leg=gass20 |archive-date= September 19, 2008 |access-date= February 15, 2008}}</ref> ===2020s=== On July 15, 2021, a truck, with its dump trailer raised, struck the overpass bridge of [[Georgia State Route 86|SR 86]] near exit 78, causing the bridge deck to shift {{convert|6|feet|m|0}}. While no injuries were reported, the resulting damage prompted GDOT to close both directions of I-16 from exit 71 to exit 78 while the damaged bridge was being demolished.<ref name="I-16 overpass failure">{{cite web |title=Major Georgia interstate to be closed for days after truck crash causes bridge to shift |url=https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/georgia-interstate-bridge-shifts-6-feet-after-truck-crash-road-closed-indefinitely/5BRWDRQPWZC3HJIMZYQZSWWY54/ |publisher=WSB-TV |access-date=July 15, 2021 |date=July 15, 2021}}</ref> Both directions of I-16 were reopened within 48 hours of the incident.<ref>{{cite web |title=All lanes of I-16 back open after large truck hits bridge over interstate |url=https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/damaged-bridge-demolished-crews-working-open-lanes-georgia-interstate/D6TS2SICSZE5ZD2WFNW5H4MTJA/ |publisher=WSB-TV |access-date=July 20, 2021 |date=July 16, 2021}}</ref> The reconstructed overpass was opened to traffic in late July 2022.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Morgan |first1=Mallory |title=Highway 86 bridge over I-16 now open to traffic |url=https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/local/highway-86-bridge-over-i-16-open-to-traffic/93-ddf690bb-e433-4a75-a479-2607329f7d8e |publisher=WMAZ-TV |access-date=August 1, 2022 |date=July 29, 2022}}</ref> Due to this, people had to take detours up to 10 minutes longer than the normal route through the towns of [[Adrian, Georgia|Adrian]] and [[Soperton, Georgia|Soperton]].
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