.svg) Interstate 555 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 I-555 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Auxiliary route of I-55 | ||||
| Maintained by ArDOT | ||||
| Length | 49.57 mi[1] (79.78 km) | |||
| Existed | March 11, 2016[2][3]–present | |||
| NHS | Entire route | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |     I-55 / US 61 / US 78 / AR 77 in Turrell | |||
| North end |   US 63 / AR 91 in Jonesboro | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Arkansas | |||
| Counties | Crittenden, Poinsett, Craighead | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
Interstate 555 (I-555) is an Interstate Highway connecting I-55 in Turrell with Highway 91 in Jonesboro. It provides a complete freeway corridor between Jonesboro, Arkansas' fifth-largest city, and Memphis, Tennessee. Formerly known as U.S. Route 63 (US 63), the highway was converted in the early 2000s to Interstate Highway standards. I-555 was dedicated in March 2016.
I-555 begins at an interchange of I-55, US 61, and AR 77 in Turrell. I-55 goes south to Memphis, Tennessee. The road parallel to the Interstate, AR 463, is a former alignment of US 63. I-555 passes through farmland and Gilmore. Then, it passes through Tyronza and Marked Tree. The section between Marked Tree and Payneway is also used for farm equipment vehicles to drive on. Next, it passes through Trumann before entering Jonesboro. It briefly has an overlap with US 49. I-555 ends in Jonesboro at an interchange with AR 91; from there, the road continues as US 63.
The I-555 route was approved on January 10, 2001, consisting of a widened section of US 63 between Turrell to Jonesboro to Interstate Highway standards. A few mainline bridges between Marked Tree and Turrell are from original two-lane US 63 and are narrower than current 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. No crossing has ever been built, but an exemption for 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 early 2016.[4] In early 2016, signs along the section of the highway cautioned travelers that there may be farm equipment driving on the roadway. The road was officially dedicated on March 11, 2016, in Jonesboro.[5] In 2021, US 63 was rerouted off the entire route of I-555, but a short extension on November 23 of that same year redesignated US 63 along a section of I-555 again.[6]
ARDOT is currently running studies that will determine whether improvements to interchanges and cross-streets are needed for I-555 in Craighead County. Public meetings about the study were held in December 2021 and October 2023.[7] Comments about the study were also requested between October and December 2023.[8][9]
| County | Location | mi | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crittenden | Turrell | 0.0 | 0.0 |  AR 77 south (US 61 north) – Turrell | Continuation south; southern end of AR 77 concurrency | |
| 1 |  I-55 south / US 61 / US 78 – Blytheville, West Memphis | No northbound access to I-55 south; signed as exits 1B (north) and 1A (south); exit no. not signed northbound; exit 23A on I-55 | ||||
| Gilmore | 1.9 | 3.1 | 2 |  AR 77 north – Gilmore | Northern end of AR 77 concurrency; access to Gilmore via Menesha Street | |
| Poinsett | | 7.1 | 11.4 | 7 |  AR 135 – Lepanto | |
| Tyronza | 8.7 | 14.0 | 8 |  AR 118 – Tyronza | ||
| Marked Tree | 13.2 | 21.2 | 13 |  AR 149 – Marked Tree, Earle | ||
| 14.2 | 22.9 | 14 |  AR 75 – Marked Tree, Lepanto, Parkin | |||
| | 18.2 | 29.3 | 18 |   AR 14 west – Payneway, Harrisburg | Eastern terminus of AR 14 | |
| | 24.0 | 38.6 | 24 |  AR 463 – Trumann | Former US 63 | |
| Trumann | 28.7 | 46.2 | 29 |  AR 69 – Trumann | ||
| Craighead | Bay | 34.6 | 55.7 | 35 | AR 463 (AR 158) – Bay | Former US 63 |
| Jonesboro | 36.2 | 58.3 | 36 | Nestlé Road | ||
| 39.1 | 62.9 | 39 |   US 78 east / AR 18S east (Dr. Martin Luther King Drive) | Southern end of US 78 concurrency; western terminus of AR 18S | ||
| 40.3 | 64.9 | 40 | AR 463 south (Nettleton Avenue) | Northern terminus of AR 463; former US 63 | ||
| 41.7 | 67.1 | 42 |   US 49 north / AR 1 (Stadium Boulevard / Red Wolf Boulevard) / Caraway Road – Paragould | Southern end of US 49 concurrency; former AR 173 | ||
| 43.4 | 69.8 | 44 |  AR 1B (Harrisburg Road) | |||
| 44.8 | 72.1 | 45 |  US 49 south / US 63 south / US 78 west / AR 18 east (Southwest Drive) | Northern end of US 49/US 78 concurrency; southern end of US 63/AR 18 concurrency | ||
| 45.8 | 73.7 | 46 |  AR 226 west (Wood Springs Road) / Strawfloor Road | Eastern terminus of AR 226 | ||
| 47.1 | 75.8 | 47 | Washington Avenue | |||
| 49.57 | 79.78 | 49 | AR 91 (AR 18 west / Dan Avenue) | Northern end of AR 18 concurrency | ||
| US 63 north | Continuation north; northern end of US 63 concurrency | |||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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.svg/250px-I-555_(AR).svg.png){kind=small}
.svg/2000px-I-555_(AR).svg.png "Interstate 555")
