Interstate 555


Interstate 555 is an Interstate Highway that connects Turrell, Arkansas, at I-55 to Jonesboro at Arkansas Highway 91. I-555 travels along what is currently U.S. Route 63 for its entire route. That highway was upgraded in the early 21st century to Interstate Highway standards. While I-555 is the second Interstate with all three digits the same, to exist, it is the first to be signed as an Interstate.

Route description

The road provides a limited-access highway corridor between Memphis, Tennessee, and Arkansas's fifth largest city, Jonesboro.

History

The I-555 route was approved on January 10, 2001, consisting of upgrading the section of US 63 between Turrell to Jonesboro to interstate standards.
According to the 2007 Arkansas state highway map, only a segment from Tyronza to Gilmore was not yet up to freeway standards. However, as of August 5, 2007, the AR 135 interchange on that section, the last one remaining, is open, thus making the route a true freeway.
A few mainline bridges between Marked Tree and Turrell are from the original two-lane US 63 and are narrower than current Interstate Highway standards, but I-530 was approved in 1999 despite having a similar issue.
The last requirement to formally designate this route as I-555 was the construction of a parallel access road across a floodway between Payneway and Marked Tree, so that farm equipment would no longer have to use US 63 to cross the floodway. To date, no crossing has ever been built, but an exemption of agricultural vehicles was added to I-555 between Marked Tree and Payneway The exemption was introduced by U.S. Representative Rick Crawford and passed as part of the House Transportation Bill on December 4, 2015.
It was announced in December 2015, that I-555 would be officially designated in Spring of 2016. The road was officially dedicated on March 11, 2016 in Jonesboro.

Exit list