Mississippi Starting Point: At US 45 in Brooksville, Noxubee County
Mississippi Ending Point: At US 45/MS 145 near Shannon, Lee County
Official Length (MDOT): 63.014 miles
Mississippi Counties: Noxubee, Lowndes, Clay, Monroe, Chickasaw,
Lee
Cities/towns over 5,000 pop served: West Point
Multiplexes: None
NHS: None
Freeway Segments: None
Other Multilane Segments:
From Brooksville to the Noxubee/Lowndes County Line.
From US 82 in western Lowndes County north to US 45/MS 145.
Average Daily Traffic (1998): Ranges from 2,900 between Artesia and US 82 to 7,200 just south of MS 25.
Notes:
Formerly known as MS 45W, and then parts of MS 23 and MS 25 before then, this route was
given its ALT US designation by 1973. For those travelling the eastern part of the
state, it presents a straighter routing over US 45 between Meridian and Tupelo (about 10
miles shorter), and as such its entire length was designated for 4-laning under the 1987
Highway Program. At this point, only 13 miles are still 2 lanes, and work is
progressing to close this gap.
There is one section of old ALT US 45 that was bypassed, between Okolona and Shannon.
This section is still maintained by the state, and is marked MS 245, the only
instance of a 200-series route in Mississippi..
With the completion and opening of the 4-lane
sections of ALT US 45 near MS 8 and in north West Point, ALT US 45 was fully 4-laned north
of US 82. This is important because it now means that one can now travel on 4-lane
highways from the "Golden Triangle" area (Starkville-Columbus-West Point) to the
outside world.