Interstate 22

File:600px-I-22.png

Interstate 22 (abbreviated I-22), when completed, will follow the U.S. Highway 78 corridor along a 176 mile (283 km) route from Memphis, Tennessee to Birmingham, Alabama. The limited access freeway will connect Interstate 55 and Interstate 40 in the northwest to Interstate 65 and Interstate 20 in the southeast, passing through the cities of Holly Springs, New Albany, and Tupelo, Mississippi, and Hamilton and Jasper, Alabama.

The part of I-22 east of Fulton, Mississippi was approved in 1978 as Corridor X, part of the Appalachian Development Highway System. Parts of the highway have been under construction ever since, with the final portions in northwest Alabama remaining to be completed. Funding for those sections has been a priority for U.S. Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), who serves as Chairman of the Senate Transportation Subcommittee. In 2004 Corridor X was designated as Future Interstate 22 by Public Law No: 108-199, and the designation was made official on April 18, 2005. In Alabama, green 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.

A 94 mile (151 km) stretch from Graysville, Alabama to the Mississippi state line is scheduled to open in December 2006; the westernmost 65 miles (105 km) in Alabama (to Bevill Industrial Parkway southeast of Jasper) opened to traffic in a series of stages through November 22, 2005. Current plans call for Interstate 22 to be completed to I-65 in 2012.

At the western end of the route, the connection between Interstate 22 and the other interstates in the vicinity of Memphis is most likely to make use of the Interstate 269 Outer Memphis Beltway, which is currently in various stages of planning and construction.

Alabama exit list

#	Destinations	Notes
3	Marion County Road 33
7	Weston; Hamilton (Alabama State Route 74)
11	Alabama State Route 17 - Hamilton; Sulligent
14	Marion County Road 35 - Hamilton
16	U.S. Highway 43; U.S. Highway 278 - Hamilton; Guin (Alabama State Route 171)
22	Marion County Road 45
26	Alabama State Route 44 - Brilliant; Guin
30	Alabama State Route 129
34	Alabama State Route 233 - Natural Bridge; Glen Allen
39	Alabama State Route 13 - Natural Bridge; Eldridge
46	Walker County Road 11 - Carbon Hill; Nauvoo
52	Alabama State Route 118
	(unsigned)
	Alabama State Route 118 east - Jasper
61	Alabama State Route 69 - Jasper; Tuscaloosa	old exit 96
63	Alabama State Route 269 - Jasper; Parrish	old exit 101
65	Industrial Parkway Road (U.S. Highway 78 east; Alabama State Route 4 east)	eastbound exit and westbound entrance; old exit 104

References

"Interstate 22." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 May 2006, 11:10 UTC [1]. Accessed 8 Aug 2006.