The Mississippi Department of Transportation issued the following statement.
Mississippi Transportation Commission Chairman Willie Simmons has announced the reopening of I-55 over the Pearl River in Jackson ahead of the Mississippi State Fair, which kicks off October 2.
Commissioner Simmons announced the opening of I-55 and gave a progress update at a press conference hosted by Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson at the Mississippi Trade Mart today. The project called for the removal and replacement of each I-55 bridge deck over the Pearl River in Jackson.
“This is a great day for the City of Jackson and for the Mississippi State Fair. Last year, we started this critical $24 million bridge preservation project after the fair ended,” said Commissioner Simmons. “We were able to get the northbound side wrapped up over the summer and I am happy to tell you today that we have fully reopened the remaining I-55 lanes here in Jackson.”
Commissioner Simmons warned drivers that although I-55 is now open fully, there is still some remaining work to be done after the fair wraps up. Drivers should continue to stay vigilant when traveling the area later this year as remaining work is completed.
“This would not have been possible without collaboration between our Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) engineers, contractors at Key, LLC and Jackson-metro area drivers for giving us the time and space to get this work done,” said Commissioner Simmons. “In addition to the safety benefits, we recognize the economic impact the Mississippi State Fair has on the City of Jackson, and I applaud these crews for their efforts to get these remaining lanes and ramps opened back up in time.”
The preservation project includes a section of I-20 eastbound to I-55 northbound that entails jacking and structural repairs, epoxy injection, installation of joint seals, bank reshaping, painting the steel members and rip rap placement that will remain underway.
Stay updated on the remainder of the project at MDOTtraffic.com, download the MDOT Traffic mobile app, and follow @MississippiDOT on Facebook and X.
18 comments:
The boondoggle finally comes to an end.
They still killin' us on the 20 East to 55 North bridge. Disassembling and reassembling 1 Lego brick at a time, 40 hours weeks... arg
Gibson wants the public on hydroponic shelves, with subsidized food tubes going in and tax for Agriculture pumping out. I'd rather eat cheap grown-in-Mexico food than listen to Gipson and Farmers beg for tax money.
Thank goodness! Now if whoever is responsible for lighting exiting Downtown would repair the street lights! It is pitch black and will be extremely unsafe for fairgoers.
@4:55 -- BOONDOGGLE??? What the hell would you have done (designed/constructed) to keep this bridge operational? Or would you have taken the easy (and cheaper) way out by completely removing the existing bridge and replacing it with a new one - causing only a litttttle bit of discomfort and delay for travelers in the area requiring them to take 220 around Jackson from north of County Line to west of the Metro Center just to get back on 20 or to go south on 49?
Boondoggle, my ass. It was a well planned, well operational construction project replacing an existing bridge while keeping it in service. Glad as hell you will probably be doing nothing worthwhile except maybe going back to flipping burgers at Whataburger on High Street and not in charge of anything important.
@4:55 - A lot of precision goes into updating a bridge structure like that, and nobody got killed in the process. I suppose you just want to let the infrastructure degrade until it fails?
@5:11 PM
They are doing a lot of interesting stuff up in Canada.
Also, if we end up in a global cooling trend, a mini-ice age, as we have in times past, that technology would have us leading in food production.
stop being a low IQ stereotype.
the copper will be stripped out within 24 hours of being reaced.
They did a good job. Glad to see it pay off. Hope the fair goes well. Maybe the guard can be deployed to help
First class State project execution.
People driving 10 MPH under the speed limit on i55/i20 in the left lane should be deported to hell.
We saw it open before announcement. Great job MDOT!
4:55 is right. And the MDOT bootlickers diverting and pontificating don’t sit in endless traffic on 20. There are major delays there and westward , especially at the Big Black. There have been 3 or 4 add on projects creating a cascade of wrecks and delays around a very slow project there. Poorly coordinated. Same district. And it exacerbates the delays on 20 for commuters and transport on a large scale. Get out of the nursing home more Gramps and expand your little world. Hardly a noticeable improvement for commerce and citizens on this in reality given massive long term delays on 20.
@ 7:25 Great Job MDOT !! hell yeah to the left laners go !@#$ yourselves
What about I-20 east at the Pearl River where it is bottlenecked all day due to the left lane being closed? Also, what about all the lights along I-20 that are out? There are some sections that are pitch black. I understand that copper thieves were to blame at one point, but can you not put better security devices on the poles to keep them out?!
The posting-contributions of all the young guys in white, MDOT, pickups is noted. Now, turn off the A/C and pick up a shovel.
Drive from Jackson to New Orleans and back and count how many times you have to slow down for roadwork projects that have been dragging on for an eternity. The I-20 EB bit is the worst part, and is perpetually backed up. Remember the 49 work a few years ago? I-55 south of I-20 work? It seems no projects at MDOT's direction ever run smoothly or are completed quickly.
I'm proud MDOT has received a long term funding source, we in Ms have many needed repairs & improvements to finish. Kinda got me 2 weeks ago down in McComb area to see a remote control mower working under/around a Bridge that still had 4 MDOT Employees standing around-only 1 had the remote control, 2 MDOT trucks there-no signage as they were off the Travel Lanes etc. Somebody needs to Step up the Productivity Expectations. 1 working, 3 Watching- surely we can do Better.
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