Interstate 59

Template:More citations needed Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Infobox road Interstate 59 (I-59) is an Interstate Highway located in the southeastern United States. It is a north–south route that spans Template:Convert from a junction with I-10 and I-12 at Slidell, Louisiana, to a junction with I-24 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 (US 11) corridor for the entire distance. Approximately one-third of the route, spanning Template:Convert from Meridian, Mississippi, to Birmingham, Alabama, overlaps that of the east–west I-20.

I-59 is a four-lane freeway along its entire route, other than a short stretch from Tuscaloosa, Alabama to the southern terminus of I-459 and in Birmingham, where it widens to six lanes or more. Aside from the metropolitan areas it passes through, the I-59 corridor is mainly rural in nature, especially in Georgia.

Route descriptionEdit

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LouisianaEdit

Template:Main article I-59 spans Template:Convert in Louisiana, the shortest distance in the four states through which it travels. The route begins at a partial cloverleaf interchange with I-10 (exit 267) and I-12 (exit 85) at the northeastern corner of Slidell, a city in St. Tammany Parish. From this interchange, connections are made to New Orleans and Hammond, as well as Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. 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. I-59 then travels through the Honey Island Swamp for Template:Convert before crossing the main branch of the Pearl River into Mississippi.<ref name="GMaps">Template:Google maps</ref><ref name="P52E 2012">Template:Cite map</ref><ref name="D62 2012">Template:Cite map</ref>

MississippiEdit

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File:I-20 East I-59 North - US11 US80 MS19 To US45 - Red Hot Meridian (26953469657).jpg

I-59 cosigned with I-20 in Mississippi; other cosigned routes are listed on the shields of the next sign

In Mississippi, I-59 continues to run parallel with US 11, traversing mainly rural areas but going through or bypassing the towns of Picayune, Poplarville, Hattiesburg, Moselle, Ellisville, Laurel, and Meridian.

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.Template:Citation needed

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 Template:Convert speed limit, one of the lowest anywhere on the Interstate Highway System. This work was completed in 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Just west of Meridian, I-20 joins I-59 and these two highways continue together for Template:Convert, across the border with Alabama to and through Birmingham. The exit numbers are given as those of I-59.Template:Citation needed

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. 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 Template:Convert north to Poplarville.Template:Citation needed

AlabamaEdit

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File:I20I59Birmingham.JPG

I-59/I-20 approaching I-65 in downtown Birmingham

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 and Fort Payne 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.

GeorgiaEdit

Template:Main article 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 (GDOT) purposes.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

HistoryEdit

Interstate 59 was first designated in 1960. Within Louisiana, Interstate 59 was first constructed across the Pearl River as the replacement route for US 11 at St. Rose starting in 1958. The stretch southward into Slidell along with I-10 south to the Twin Bridges opened in 1965-66. Interstate 59 in Mississippi opened initially from the Louisiana state line toward Picayune and from Hattiesburg to Laurel in 1963. All of the route south of the overlap with I-20 was completed by 1969.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The stretch of I-59/I-20 running through downtown Birmingham was completed in 1973. This stretch was reconstructed starting in January 2019 and ending in early-2020.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

FutureEdit

I-59 will be widened on the north side of Birmingham, Alabama between I-459 (exit 137) and Chalkville Mountain Road (exit 141) as announced by Governor Kay Ivey on August 31, 2023. The project is expected to cost $80 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>