DeSoto County leaders will take the critical message of widening Interstate 55 to legislators at the Mississippi State Capitol on Thursday, Feb. 9, in hopes that building pressure will release state purse strings.

“We feel I-55 has got to be widened,” District 4 Supervisor Lee Caldwell said. “We need to speak with force and ask for funding.”

I-55 is state-controlled and state-maintained. DeSoto County government officials can’t widen the road because they can’t afford it. The cost estimate for Phase I, between Goodman and Church Roads, is $108 million.

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After ongoing efforts failed to get state money earmarked for I-55, DeSoto County elected officials launched a social media campaign last year to turn up the volume.

More than 4,000 electronic signatures have been collected through the campaign, Driving DeSoto. The campaign urges business owners, organizations and residents to join forces with officials.

Driving DeSoto highlights the need to widen the county’s primary entry points: I-55, U.S. 51 and Miss. 305 (aka Cockrum Road). But at the Capitol, DeSoto officials are narrowing their focus to push for I-55 widening. They will meet with key legislators in Jackson to press their case in person. Business leaders, including Leadership DeSoto participants, will join them.

Safety is a main concern. The average daily traffic count on the interstate north of Goodman Road was 85,000 vehicles in 2021. That’s 20,000 more than the count in 2019. Frequent accidents become traffic jams as the interstate narrows like the end of a funnel from 10 lanes around Southaven to four south to Hernando.

“If there is an accident, you can’t get by it,” Caldwell said.

While the local delegation is familiar with the traffic needs, Caldwell said an important part for their visit to Jackson is getting the message across to legislators from far-flung cities. Jackson is approximately a three-hour drive down I-55.

“The disadvantage DeSoto has is we live so far from Jackson,” Caldwell said. “We have to work harder to develop those relationships.”

The Driving DeSoto website, www.drivingdesoto.org, offers this assessment: “Even as our population growth has outpaced the rest of Mississippi, the widening of these roads has been ignored,” the campaign’s website says. “For population and economic growth to continue in DeSoto County, the state and federal government must prioritize our state and federal highways.”

Olive Branch Mayor Ken Adams is still plugging away at getting state highway Miss. 305 widened inside his city, however, he said he is joining with his local elected leaders to highlight I-55.

“I think it really has to be (top priority),” Adams said. “I 100% support it being first. (Interstate) 55 desperately needs widening.”

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When asked what made him think legislators will lean more favorably to earmarking funds his year, Adams smiled and said: “They’re running for statewide office this year. That’s the big difference. We’ve been putting out education on this for a year. I think the message is being well received.”