U.S. Route 49

Infobox U.S. Route
article_route=49

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length_mi=516Droz, Robert V. [http://www.us-highways.com/usbt.htm U.S. Highways : From US 1 to (US 830)] . URL accessed 02:55, 4 July 2006 (UTC).]
length_km=830
yrcom=1926
direction_a=South
direction_b=North
from=Jct|state=MS|US|90 at Gulfport, MS
junction=Jct|state=MS|I|10 at Gulfport, MS
Jct|state=MS|I|59 at Hattiesburg, MS
Jct|state=MS|I|20|I|55 at Jackson, MS
Jct|state=AR|I|40 at Brinkley, AR
Jct|state=AR|US|63 at Jonesboro, AR
to=Jct|state=AR|US|62 at Piggott, AR

U.S. Route 49 is a north-south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Piggott, Arkansas, at an intersection with U.S. Route 62. Its southern terminus is in Gulfport, Mississippi, at an intersection with U.S. Route 90. US 49 is approximately 516 miles (830 km) in length.

It was at the junction of US 49 and U.S. Route 61 that blues singer Robert Johnson is said to have sold his soul to the Devil. The highway is also the subject of a song by Howlin' Wolf.

Route description

Mississippi

As of 2005, U.S. 49 splits into U.S. Route 49E and U.S. Route 49W in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Continuing northward, these two highways rejoin as US 49 at Tutwiler, Mississippi. US 49W (the western branch) passes through Indianola and Belzoni, while US 49E veers to the east to serve Greenwood. US 49W is considered to be the main thoroughfare through the Mississippi Delta.

A recent reconstruction project completed in 2005 relocated the route of US 49W and its southern terminus in the Yazoo City area. Originally running from Silver City to Yazoo City via Midnight and Louise into the heart of Yazoo City, the route has now been shifted eastward. US 49W now runs from Silver City through the small town of Carter to the northern part of Yazoo City, where the highway meets US 49E and becomes US 49 again, cutting more than 10 miles off the old route. The original route is now numbered Mississippi Highway 149 and is paired with Mississippi Highway 16.

U.S. Highway 49 in Mississippi is a designated hurricane evacuation route. It is four-laned and divided from the Gulf Coast to the intersection with U.S. Highway 82 in Indianola.

;Legal definition The Mississippi section of U.S. 49 and the routes of U.S. 49E and 49W are defined at Mississippi Code Annotated § 65-3-3.

Arkansas

US 49 crosses the Mississippi River just south of Helena-West Helena, in Phillips County, Arkansas and proceeds northwest into Monroe County and then north thru Woodruff, Cross and Poinsett Counties to Jonesboro, in Craighead County. From there it runs northeast thru Greene County to Piggott in Clay County, ending just north of there at US 62. The Arkansas portion of US 49 is mainly two-lane undivided.

ee also

Related Routes

* Mississippi Highway 149

Bannered routes

*U.S. Route 49 Business in Brookland, Arkansas
*U.S. Route 49 Business in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas
*U.S. Route 49 Business in Jonesboro, Arkansas (decommissioned)
*U.S. Route 49 Business in Paragould, Arkansas
*U.S. Route 49E Business in Greenwood, Mississippi (decommissioned)
*U.S. Route 49 Business in Hattiesburg, Mississippi (decommissioned)

References

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