I-20W at State Street to shut down for 72 hours on April 8

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - If your daily commute includes I-20 westbound near State Street, expect to find an alternate route beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 8.

For 72 hours, the Mississippi Department of Transportation is closing all lanes of I-20 westbound/I-55 southbound at State Street for an emergency repair on the road failing one of the most heavily traveled corridors in the state.

The temporary closure will have a major impact on traffic - over 100,000 vehicles frequent the area daily.

“We regret the temporary inconvenience the closure will cause, but the repair is necessary to keep the I-20 westbound/I-55 southbound corridor safe and passable in Jackson,” said Brad White, MDOT Executive Director.

People who travel from Meridian to Vicksburg on I-20 westbound will be affected the most. It could add about 30 minutes to your drive.

I-20W at State Street to shut down for 72 hours, major delays possible(MDOT)

You may remember a noticeable dip in the interstate if you’ve driven in the area.

MDOT says the road is failing due to what they believe is a ruptured pipe that has heavily saturated the soil underneath the asphalt.

The pipe is about 35 feet below the road surface.

“We’re gonna have to perform this temporary repair by putting crushed stone underneath the roadbed and lifting the slab back up to keep it straight,” Public Information Officer Michael Flood said. “If we don’t do this, then it’ll just keep sinking at that location, and it’ll keep dipping, and we don’t want to have a dip that significant on an interstate.”

It’s a stretch of the road MDOT said it’s monitored for several years now.

In the past, maintenance crews kept the roadway passable by placing foam material under the roadbed to raise the slab along the affected area, only to have the roadway dip again due to the saturated soil.

“They’ve done these bandaid fixes on this stretch of road, but it was just a temporary fix that wasn’t holding up. The crushed stone material is expected to hold it up for a period of time needed for a temporary repair,” Flood added.

MDOT has not said when a permanent solution will be, but during the closure, contractors will be drilling in several areas to learn more about the cause and how to move forward on permanent repairs.

The Interstate 20/55 repair project is approximately 65 feet long and four lanes wide.

I-20 westbound and I-55 southbound run concurrently at the closure location.

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