I-269 officially opens Oct. 26
The last nine-mile stretch of a 30-mile segment of I-269 in North Mississippi will open October 26 amid fanfare and speeches.
The ceremony will take place at the intersection of I-269 and Getwell Road in DeSoto County.
This completes I-269 connecting I-55 near Hernando to Tennessee 385, and it will open shortly after a 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting that will be attended by Mike Tagert, Northern District transportation commissioner in Mississippi, many public officials from as far away as Washington, D.C., and a celebratory public.
Commissioner Tagert said his office has been flooded with phone calls and emails about the official opening, according to press report.
“I’m glad to see that kind of enthusiasm,” Tagert told the the DeSoto Times Tribune.
The project ground breaking took place in 2011, and it is being completed ahead of a projected date in 2019.
The commissioner said I-69 is the nation’s newest super highway which will one day connect Mexico to Canada as it winds its way through many rural areas along the way. It is designed to stimulate new growth at new intersections along the way as it passes through rural America.
Mitch Turner, Mississippi Department of Transportation engineer with the Batesville office, said the I-269 distance from Highway 385 at the Tennessee line to Hernando is approximately 46 miles.
The corridor provides a much shorter and safer option for traffic traveling between I-55 south of Memphis, Tenn., and I-40 east of Memphis.
The segment of I-269 within Mississippi, for which MDOT is responsible, has a price tag of $578,872,951, according to Tagert.
“The entire I-69 route, of which I-269 is a part, passes through the states of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas and is a much-needed and highly-anticipated option for interstate commerce between Mexico, the United States and Canada,” Tagert said.