Interstate 22 (
I-22), when completed, will follow the
U.S. Highway 78 corridor along a 213-mile (343-km) route from
Memphis, Tennessee, to
Birmingham, Alabama. Future I-22 will connect
Interstate 55 and
Interstate 40 in the northwest to
Interstate 65,
Interstate 59 and
Interstate 20 in the southeast, passing through or close to the towns of
Holly Springs, Mississippi;
New Albany, Mississippi;
Tupelo, Mississippi;
Hamilton, Alabama;
Winfield, Alabama; and
Jasper, Alabama.
Development
The part of I-22 east of
Fulton, Mississippi, was approved in 1978 as
Corridor X, part of the
Appalachian Development Highway System, and parts of the highway have been under construction ever since. Corridor X was also designated as
High Priority Corridor 10 in the
National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 and
High Priority Corridor 45 in subsequent legislation. This section includes the interchange with
Interstate 65. and
Interstate 240 have been discussed as possible termini.
Future Interstate 22 now travels the full length between suburban Birmingham and suburban Memphis, stopping short of the proposed major interstate connection in Alabama at I-65. and the designation was made official on April 18, 2005. In Alabama and Mississippi, blue signs reading "FUTURE/I-22/CORRIDOR" at left and an I-22 shield with "FUTURE" instead of "INTERSTATE" at right were unveiled April 18, 2005. Exits on the Jasper Bypass portion of I-22 were originally numbered using a kilometer-based sequence in anticipation of U.S. metrication, but have since been renumbered to a mileage-based sequence. A segment between Graysville and Brookside was opened in June 2007, and another section of Future I-22 between Jasper and Graysville was opened in November 2007. A segment between Cherry Avenue in Forestdale to a spot about shy of I-65 near Fultondale, including an interchange with Coalburg Road, opened in December 2009. However, no timetable for this project has been announced by ALDOT. A project to widen I-65 to four lanes in either direction has begun from just south of the upcoming I-22/I-65 interchange southward to the 16th Street interchange. Under the present design, I-22 will terminate at I-65, but the mainline highway will continue east beyond I-65 as a long pair of ramps to US-31. The construction of the roadbed and excavation of a ridge approximately 500 yards west of I-65 can easily be seen by I-65 motorists. Another associated project will be a widening of I-65 from the I-22 interchange northward to the Walker Chapel Road exit.
ALDOT announced that contract letting for the construction of the final segment including the massive interchange with I-65 and US 31 was to have been let in August 2009 with construction to begin shortly afterwards, however funding delays had postponed the project into 2010. On March 19, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the HIRE (Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment) Act into law, which included an extension of federal highway funding through the end of 2010. This extension gave ALDOT the opportunity to proceed with plans on the final segment of I-22. Opening bids on the project began on May 21, 2010. ALDOT announced on June 16, 2010 that the project has been awarded to Archer Western Contractors, based out of Atlanta, Georgia for $168.6 million. The work is to start on August 1, 2010 and has an expected completion date of October 15, 2014. Another area is scattered along the entire Mississippi portion where work to improve the shoulders to interstate standards is yet to be done as well as repaving some of the oldest portions of the existing freeway between Holly Springs and Olive Branch which will probably occur once construction of the I-269/I-22 interchange near Byhalia commences. There are also truck weigh stations near Fulton and Olive Branch.
Tennessee
Due to the commercial heavy industrial commerce areas along US 78 between the Mississippi/Tennessee state line and the junction with I-240 in Memphis, a distinct possibility exists that I-22 will not be routed north and west of the new I-22/I-269 interchange to be built near Byhalia. I-22 would either terminate at that interchange or be routed westward and co-signed with I-269 to the existing I-55/I-69 interchange just north of Hernando where both I-269 and I-22 would terminate. Not MDOT nor TDOT have announced any decision regarding how the routing will ultimately be done as of spring 2010.
I-269 will run north from the new I-22/I-269 interchange near Byhalia and cross the state line near Collierville, Tennessee and then northward to I-40 northeast of Memphis. From there, I-269 would continue northwest and west to a new interchange with I-69 northeast of Millington, Tennessee. Most of the Tennessee portion of the route is complete except for a 9 mile stretch from Collierville northward and approximately 1/2 mile south of Collierville to the Tennessee/Mississippi state line. This route will intersect Interstate 22 near Graysville and run southwest toward Tuscaloosa to connect with Interstate 20/59 and from Interstate 22 eastward connecting with Interstate 59 near Argo.
Exit list
Mississippi
{| class=wikitable
!County
!Location
!
#
!Destinations
!Notes
|-
|rowspan=5|
DeSoto
|rowspan=4|
Olive Branch
|1
|Craft Road
|Serves Olive Branch
|-
|2
|
|Also known as Goodman Road
|-
|4
|
|Serves Olive Branch city center
|-
|6
|Bethel Road, Hacks Cross Road
|Access northbound to TN 385 and eastern Memphis suburbs
|-
|
|10
|
Ingrams Mill,
West Byhalia
|
|-
|rowspan=7|
Marshall
|
Byhalia
|14
|
|Future I-269 interchange will be built near here
|-
|
|18
|
Victoria,
East Byhalia
|
|-
|
|21
|
Red Banks
|
|-
|rowspan=2|
Holly Springs
|26
|
West Holly Springs
|An ongoing road project would provide a bypass of Holly Springs to travelers using MS-7 north.
|-
|30
|
|Access to Senatobia via MS 7
|-
|
|37
|
Lake Center
|
|-
|
Potts Camp
|41
|
|
|-
|
Benton
|
Hickory Flat
|48
|
|Access to MS 2 and MS 5
|-
|rowspan=6|
Union
|
Myrtle
|55
|
Myrtle
|
|-
|rowspan=4|
New Albany
|60
|
Glenfield
|This is a connector to MS30 and to a Wal-Mart distribution center
|-
|61
|
|West end of MS 30 overlap
|-
|63
|
Downtown New Albany
|
|-
|64
|
|East end of MS 30 overlap
|-
|
|73
|
|West end of MS 9 overlap and service to a new Toyota plant opening in 2011
|-
|
Pontotoc
|
Sherman
|76
|
|East end of MS 9 overlap and accesses the new Toyota plant
|-
|rowspan=6|
Lee
|rowspan=4|
Tupelo
|81
|
|
|-
|85
|
Natchez Trace Parkway
|
|-
|86
|
|West end of Corridor V overlap; signed as exits 86A (south) and 86B (north)
|-
|87
|Veterans Boulevard
|Access to Elvis Presley birthplace
|-
|
|90
|Auburn Road
|
|-
|
|94
|
|
|-
|rowspan=5|
Itawamba
|
|97
|Fawn Grove Road –
Dorsey
|
|-
|
|101
|
|Due to the Tenn-Tom waterway MS-178 ends on the west bank of the waterway opposite Fulton
|-
|
Fulton
|104
|
|West end of MS 25 overlap, MS 178 resumes eastbound in downtown Fulton.
|-
|
|108
|
|East end of MS 25/Corridor V overlap; west end of Corridor X overlap
|-
|
Tremont
|113
|
|MS 178 terminates eastbound at intersection with MS 23 just north of Corridor X
|}
Alabama
{| class=wikitable
!County
!Location
!
#
!Destinations
!Notes
|-
|rowspan=9|
Marion
|
|3
|
|Bexar
|-
|rowspan=4|
Hamilton
|7
|
Weston,
Hamilton (
SR 74)
|Provides access to US 278 east and to Al 19
Red Bay
|-
|11
|
|Also connects to AL-19
|-
|14
|
Hamilton (CR-35)
|
|-
|16
|
|
|-
|
|22
|
|
|-
|
|26
|
|Also serves the community of Twin
|-
|
Brilliant
|30
|
|
|-
|
|34
|
|
|-
|rowspan=11|
Walker
|
|39
|
|Also access to Fayette and Tuscaloosa via AL 13 South
|-
|
Carbon Hill
|46
|
|
|-
|
|52
|
|
|-
|
|53
|(no name)
|Future AL 102
|-
|rowspan=4|
Jasper
|57
|
|
|-
|61
|
|Old exit 96
|-
|63
|
|Old exit 101
|-
|65
|Industrial Parkway Road –
Jasper
|Old exit 104
|-
|
|70
|
|
|-
|
|72
|
|
|-
|
|78
|
|
|-
|rowspan=7|
Jefferson
|
|81
|
|Alabama Power Miller Steam Plant access (coal fired facility)
|-
|rowspan=2|
Graysville
|85
|
|
|-
|87
|
|
|-
|rowspan=3|
Forestdale
|89
|
|Hillcrest Road/Minor Parkway
|-
|91
|
|Cherry Avenue & Forestdale
|-
|93
|
|Directional signs on exit ramp notate north to Coalburg and south to Birmingham
|-
|rowspan=1|
Birmingham
|95
|
|This exit will begin construction on August 1, 2010 with a scheduled completion sometime in either 2013 or 2014
|}
References
External links
Interstate Guide Profile for Interstate 22
22
22
X
22
![[HQ] Radiohead at Sao Paulo Mar 22 2009 [FULL Show]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110111002137im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IU12xg2gmqo/2.jpg "[HQ] Radiohead at Sao Paulo Mar 22 2009 [FULL Show]")
