The Magnolia State heralds improved mobility infrastructure.
Get ready to move a lot faster in Mississippi.
Last year saw a boon for transportation infrastructure projects in the state of Mississippi, helped in part not only by the highly collaborative and driven efforts of the state’s Department of Transportation (MDOT) and other transportation agencies, but also by the Build Up Mississippi Act (HB 1). This bill, signed into law in early 2025 by Gov. Tate Reeves, enacted a suite of legislation that included the phase-out of personal income tax, reducing sales taxes on groceries and also providing pathways to fund critically needed transportation improvements.
According to the state’s long-range strategy for its transportation infrastructure, dubbed MULTIPLAN 2050, the Build Up Mississippi Act “funds transportation by gradually increasing Mississippi’s motor fuel tax, ensuring MDOT has funding to address basic needs and advance regionally significant projects that impact how Mississippians travel, businesses operate and goods are transported throughout the state.”
Fuel tax revenue is forecast to generate $478 million annually for MDOT investments, an increase of 53% compared to earlier levels. Moving Mississippians safely and maintaining the state’s transportation infrastructure are two key goals of the state’s overall long-term plan.
“We have projects from the Gulf Coast all the way up to the Tennessee line in DeSoto County that will be widening Interstates, fixing and repairing bridges, adding interchanges to certain areas. All of which will be designed to help the system accommodate the traffic in a more efficient and safe way.”
— Brad White, Executive Director, Mississippi Department of Transportation
Rebuilding for Efficiency and Flow
Improving Mississippi’s roads, bridges and related mobility assets are also a strength for companies looking to invest in the state. MDOT Executive Director Brad White refers to an old adage when trying to recruit industry stateside that if companies “can’t get here, they’re not coming. They have to be able to feel confident that they can get both their people and their goods in and out in an effective way. So we partner very well with the Mississippi Development Authority. We work with them to make sure that where they have the potential site that a company’s looking at, that we are working hand-in-glove with them to be ready to make improvements that a particular company may require.”
White notes that the state is improving interstate connectivity and reducing road congestion by relighting the flame on a capacity construction program over the past five or so years, saying that “the program is designed to add efficiency to the system. It’s what turns a two-lane into a four-lane, maybe a bypass. And do other things that make the system more capable of handling a larger volume of traffic that’s projected in future years. Being able to restart that program with new revenue has been phenomenal. We have projects where from the Gulf Coast all the way up to the Tennessee line in DeSoto County that will be widening interstates, fixing and repairing bridges, adding interchanges to certain areas. All of which will be designed to help the system accommodate the traffic in a more efficient and safe way.”
Some major transportation projects include widening I-10 from four to six lanes, from Diamondhead to County Farm Road in Harrison and Hancock counties — a $155 million contract expecting completion in 2027. The I-10 Diamondhead interchange has nearly finished reconstruction in Hancock County, which includes overpass and ramp widening, three new roundabouts and a multi-use path, according to MDOT.
In southeast Mississippi, Highway 57 in Jackson County is ahead of schedule to widen into a new four-lane corridor on about nine miles of roadway. The $212.6 million project is expected to be complete by April 2028. Forty intersections are being redesigned, simplifying signal operations, reducing conflict points and enhancing traffic flow to create more consistent driver expectations and lower crash rates along the super street corridor. White adds that the major roadway project will support future growth and development of that area for at least another two decades.
A Holistic Approach
When asked what the top priorities are for central Mississippi’s transportation portfolio the next few years, Mississippi’s Central District Transportation Commissioner and former Mississippi State Senator and Chairman of the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee Willie Simmons likens it to a Santa Claus list. The top items on that list include managing traffic coming through Interstates 20, 55, 59 and 220 in the central state district through the Jackson metro area and adding safety features, adequate lighting and informational messaging for drivers.
“Transportation infrastructure is the key or glue to all aspects of a community,” says Simmons. “A community can’t really exist — whether you’re talking about our school system, healthcare, industry, the business community, housing — without a good transportation infrastructure system. It’s very important that we the commissioners fully understand that concept and work toward having a holistic system and being able to communicate to our legislators the importance of their supporting a system and giving us the resources that we can actually fund a holistic transportation system to make it work.”
The highways that converge throughout the Jackson metro eventually connect to the cities of Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans and Memphis, marking the state’s capital city as a vital artery for regional and national connectivity. Mississippi is also well equipped to identify existing structures in the state that need improvements and what areas need new transportation segments.
Willie Simmons
“We have a very good planning system where our engineers and traffic studies employees take a look at what the needs are by looking at the condition of our highways and our bridges,” says Simmons. “Unfortunately, in the past, we haven’t had enough money to take care of a good maintenance program and building capacity. We’ve been very blessed recently with the legislation giving us additional money as well as getting federal monies that we are now able to put in place the actually building and maintaining of those highways. But we have a very good system of monitoring it and making sure that we look at our highways and know what the needs are.”
Simmons highlights a swathe of key freight corridors in Mississippi, including Interstates 20, 55, 220 and 59. There’s Highway 49 coming through the Jackson metro from the Gulf Coast into the Delta, Highway 82 going west-east from Arkansas to Alabama, Highway 27 and Highways 25, 45 and 61, which make up the “Blues Heritage Trail.”
He also refers to Vision 21, a state legislative initiative approved in 2002 that built and expanded on Mississippi’s landmark 1987 Four-Lane Highway Program that focused on addressing basic infrastructure needs in the state and the state’s three year plan, which entails state transportation officials revisiting their plan annually and amending it to accommodate and support transportation projects based upon the resources the department has.
Simmons notes that the state works to provide accessibility for some populations disadvantaged by their location in rural areas, including connecting senior citizens to healthcare providers and providing public transportation to commuters.
“We want to build and maintain what I refer to as a holistic infrastructure system,” says Simmons. “One that is second to none in the country. We want to make sure that when we say we have a highway or a corridor that it’s safe — it has the capabilities of moving our public and our freight to and from its destination. If we are able to do that, we’re going to be considered successful.”
