Reeves proposes funding for Desoto County I-55 widening
The long awaited widening of Interstate 55 in Desoto County might finally be happening.
Gov. Tate Reeves on Thursday announced a proposed $1.3 billion infrastructure project that includes over $124 million for phase one of the Interstate 55 widening project.
Driving Desoto, a grassroots coalition that works to widen the main entry points into Desoto, said that Interstate 55 in Desoto County alone sees 75,000 cars each day and that if economic and population growth in the area is to continue, the interstate needs to be widened.
Here’s what we know about the widening of Interstate 55.
Where is the road going to be widened?
The plan is for Interstate 55 to be widened from Church Road to Goodman Road.
This lines up with what Driving Desoto and local politicians asked for last week during a meeting with state lawmakers.
Reeves said during a Facebook Live press conference that he hopes to one day see Interstate 55 widened past Church Road.
“Now, many of my friends in Desoto County and across the state, some would tell you, that it should come to Star Landing Road, and others would tell you that it should come to Hernando,” Reeves said during the press conference. “And they’re all right. I completely agree with that. In fact, I believe that I-55 needs to be widened all the way to Senatobia at a minimum, and eventually to Batesville. Because the reality is, when you look at this region of the state, economic growth is happening every single day.”
How long will it take to widen I-55?
Reeves said that the project is ready to begin construction once funds are received.
“It can take six to eight years, on average, for MDOT to move from the initial planning stages to the final stages of construction,” Reeves said. “All of these projects are nearing the end of the preconstruction phase. Once MDOT receives money to fund these projects, they can be moved towards the final stages of construction.”
Why do people want to widen I-55?
There has long been a push to widen Interstate 55.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation put the project on its Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) plan for the years 2017 to 2020 and in 2021, Desoto County mayors put the project on their wish list to legislators on how they want the billions of dollars expected to be given to Mississippi from the federal government for infrastructure projects to be spent. At the time, Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite said he felt like the widening project should be “on the top of the list.”
Between 2010 and 2020, Desoto County was the third-fastest growing county in Mississippi and had a 14.9% population increase. Mirroring that population boom is a drastic increase in new development.
“Even as our population growth has outpaced the rest of Mississippi, the widening of these roads has been ignored,” the Driving Desoto website reads. “For population and economic growth to continue in Desoto County, the state and federal government must prioritize our state and federal highways.”