I-55 widening in DeSoto County: What's next for project that will add 6 lanes in Southaven?

The once distant hope of expanding Interstate 55 in DeSoto County is nearing reality.

With the Mississippi Legislature's allocation of $90 million for the I-55 widening in early May, and the permanent closure of Old Airways in Southaven in late May, the pieces have begun to fall into place.

Phase one of the project will see the highway extended from four lanes to 10 between Goodman Road and Church Road in Southaven.

Church Road itself will also be widened near underneath the I-55 overpass, and the interchange will receive both more ramp lanes and a loop in the southeastern section to reduce left turns, improving traffic flow. The Old Airways' closure was to prepare drivers for this change.

"The I-55 widening project is the No. 1 project that has taken the most of my time with lobbying, preaching and begging the state for solutions," Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite said. "After 11 years of discussions, the state legislature has finally allocated enough funding to MDOT for construction to occur."

When will work start on widening I-55 in DeSoto County?

The $156 million project will begin in early 2026 and is projected to last for three years. For the next year and a half, Musselwhite said utility lines will have to be relocated to prepare for the construction's start.

While it's a lengthy project, DeSoto County Board of Supervisors Vice President Lee Caldwell said that traffic getting worse over those three years shouldn't be a problem. Existing lanes will remain open, as will other alternate routes parallel to I-55.

"We're hoping to do some improvements on U.S. 51," Caldwell said. "So that could be another channel that people will be taking."

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Why is widening I-55 the 'No. 1 priority' in DeSoto County?

Caldwell said that the widening of I-55 continues to be the "No. 1 priority" in DeSoto. It's a highway that many from neighboring Shelby, Tate, Marshall and Tunica counties use for their daily commutes.

"Almost weekly, we shut the interstate down due to accidents," she said. "It's hard getting your emergency vehicles there to take care of the accident. I mean, we've had babies born on the side of the road with people trying to get to the hospital. It is critical."

Will I-55 eventually be widened past Church Road in Southaven?

Phase one is just the beginning of I-55's expansion. The proposed plan for phase two would see I-55 go from four lanes to 10 from Church Road to I-269, and create a new interchange at Star Landing Road. Phase three would expand the highway from four lanes to six from I-269 to the Hernando interchange, widen Commerce Street and rework the interchange.

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Early preparations for the next two phases, such as engineering discussions and grant submissions, remain underway. Still, residents shouldn't expect phase two to start immediately after phase one's completion. Considering that acquiring proper funding for the initial project took more than a decade, Caldwell said the state might look for alternate methods of funding.

"You know as soon as we build phase one, people are going to go, 'Why didn't you go to phase two?' Well, it's money," she said. "It may be that we're looking at some other avenues of funding mechanisms, like the gas tax hasn't been increased since 1987. That may be something that the federal government's looking at, or the state's looking at in order to fund our highways, but it's a crucial part. And people up here can really feel it, especially when they're trying to get to and from work."

Jacob Wilt is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at jacob.wilt@commercialappeal.com.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: I-55 expansion in DeSoto County, MS, moves forward: What's next?