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Major highway projects keep Mississippians moving.

Article Excerpt
More than anything else, transportation in Mississippi means traveling by highways, and the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) stays busy trying to build and maintain those roadways. MDOT currently has $4 billion in highway construction under contract. South Mississippi is getting a big share due to the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, but major projects are on tap all over the state.

MDOT is finishing the environmental stage for Interstate 69 which will run from Collierville, Tenn., to U.S. 78 in Mississippi and then to the West toward I-55. Executive director Butch Brown said the department will move quickly to purchase right-of-way for the highway that will link to U.S. 78 and be renamed 1-22 from Memphis to Birmingham.

"It will open up Northwest Mississippi like Northeast Mississippi," he said. "That's a vibrant area."

Four laning of the much-traveled Mississippi 25 between Jackson and Starkville is nearing completion. A six-mile section was recently opened to four-lane traffic in Oktibbeha County between the Winston County line and the Starkville Bypass. Two sections in Winston County will open soon.

The new Greenville Bridge across the Mississippi River is moving along with the main span nearing completion. A contract for the Mississippi approaches was let in March 2005 and is scheduled to be complete in April 2008. The Arkansas approaches are on the same timetable.

Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall says the complete re-do of the Clinton/Raymond Road Interchange on 1-20 is quite a project and is on schedule for completion in...

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